


Kindness Goes A Long Way || SichengxReader (F!)

by AgentLin



Series: Self-Insert Stories [19]
Category: NCT (Band), WayV (Band)
Genre: Artificial Intelligence, Blood, Cyborgs, F/M, Fever, Gen, Killing, Manipulation, Medicine, Mind Control, Mind Manipulation, Murder, Post-Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-13 04:28:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20576468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentLin/pseuds/AgentLin
Summary: The end of the world is hard to accept as it is, but it’s even harder to be alone. It seems fate had brought you to Sicheng, someone who can definitely survive in the abandoned waste land that had become of Earth. You then find yourself with a group of others, and you might just have a chance at survival. The only problem is there’s something off about the group, something they’re not telling you, and it might mean the difference between life and death.





	1. Chapter 1

The first thing you heard was the birds chirping, and slowly the rest of your senses came to you. You felt the hard ground beneath you, a wet rag on your forehead, and the smell of the great outdoors. You opened your eyes, seeing the tree tops above you. When you tried to sit up you felt a hand on your chest gently pushing you back down.

“Take it easy.”

“Who… who are you?”

“Sicheng, are you okay?”

“I… I don’t know what you mean… ah, my head… what happened?”

“I’m not sure, I found you passed out in a store. Here drink.” He handed you a water bottle, helping you sit up. “You’re running a fever.”

“A fever?” You whined, taking the water and drinking. “Why’d you help me?”

“Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? Help each other.”

“Yeah… it’s what I would do… there’s only so many of us left, we gotta stick together.”

“Exactly. What’s your name?”

“Y/n.”

“Nice to meet you. Now, I don’t want to sound rude but I gotta ask, what’s the last thing you remember? You’ve been out for almost two days, I was getting worried you weren’t gonna wake up.”

“That’s not rude, um… I was making my way into an abandoned town, looking for supplies… I don’t remember much, I must have collapsed in whatever store you found me in.”

“I’m just glad you’re alright, and that you don’t have complete amnesia. I wouldn’t know how to explain-”

“Our post apocalyptic wasteland of a world. Yeah, I remember the war, so I’ve saved you the trouble of explaining.”

“Thanks.”

As you finished the water bottle you looked around, there was a little fire going, and another sleeping bag laid out, nothing but trees surrounding you. Your stomach suddenly growled, and you blushed, looking away from Sicheng.

“Yeah, I figured you’d be hungry, all I’ve managed to do is give you water and some expired meds, which is bad since you really should have had food in your stomach, but I was trying to keep your fever from spiking.”

“It’s okay, I’m probably alive thanks to you.”

“That’s going too far, but thank you. I have some granola bars you can eat, but you still need something more filling.” 

“I was looking for supplies when you found me, so I don’t have much either.”

“Well, there’s a small town not too far from here, I’m sure we can find you something. Now let’s get you up.”

Sicheng helped you to your feet. He didn’t let you go until you were steady telling you to rest against a tree, then he started packing up camp. You offered to help but he told you that you shouldn’t strain yourself. He had a point, you felt very sore, still rather hot too despite the wet rag you kept on your neck. All you did was watch as he put out the fire and rolled up the sleeping bags, carrying your things.

“I’m not that helpless.”

You grabbed your bag, smiling at him. He scoffed and took some of your things to at least lighten the load. It was silly but you let him, following him as he led the way, sticking close and leaning against him a few times. Every time you did he asked if you were alright, you assured him you were fine, just needed to take things slow. You eventually made it to an empty town, just like any other.

“It’s so quiet.” You mumbled. “Kinda peaceful, but I miss the noise of life too.”

Sicheng chuckled. “Interesting way to put it. There’s a store over there, why don’t you find something to eat right now, and I’ll find you some medicine.”

“Okay, that works, but… where’s my gun?”

“Huh?”

“If you found me, then you found the gun I had… I don’t have it anymore.”

“You don’t seem like the type to use it.”

“I don’t want to, I’ve never had to but not everyone is as kind as you, a show of power wouldn’t hurt.”

“We’re alone, and you don’t seem to be in any position to-”

“You never know, other humans aren’t our only problem, it’s just for safety, and it’s my gun to begin with.”

“Fair point.” Sicheng reached into his bag and handed you your gun. “I hope you don’t have to use it.”

“Me too.”

You took it, hiding it under your shirt, the two of you then going your separate ways. You wandered around the store for a while, still feeling sick, the shelves were rather bare, not surprising, given everything that happened to the world. To some it was horrible, others expected it, and then there were those who caused it. Technology, artificial intelligence to be exact, really did get the better of humanity.

It started in one place, Liu Industries, and it just went from there, quick to spread. Humanity, well, most of the modern world revolved around technology, so the enemy did have the advantage. Moreso they had been secretly preparing for years, when the time came to act they knew exactly what to do. The initial attack wiped out many, those who were left picked up arms, and after two years everything just went quiet, on both sides.

What was left of humanity went on the defense, going underground, gathering supplies and protecting their own. None really knew what the robots were up to, so all one could do was gather, and prepare for the second round, winner takes all. You weren’t such a strong person, and honestly still had trouble believing you had survived, you ended up alone though, travelling, hoping to find other people, find somewhere safe to call home. Ending up with Sicheng seemed like it could put you on the right path.

You found some instant ramen on the shelves, a small smile on your face, at least you could have something good. Since there wasn’t much left on the shelves you figured you’d fill your bag with what you could, stock up for the next trip. As you were doing so you suddenly heard a gun cock, you quickly put your hands up, slowly getting up and turning around. You saw a man pointing his gun up at you.

“Easy, I’m not your enemy. Please… put the gun down.”

“You… what’s that…” He was babbling but then his eyes went wide. “Where are they?!”

“What? I don-”

The guy suddenly fell over, knife in his head. You were about to scream but covered your mouth, not wanting to alert anyone else. You didn’t know what to do, you didn’t know where Sicheng was, you didn’t know what was going on. Seeing the pool of blood was making you feel worse. Your legs eventually gave out but Sicheng was there to catch you.

He pulled you towards the back of the store, where the pharmaceuticals were. He got you over the counter, having you hide, that’s when you noticed the knives he was carrying, the man you just saw die, he just killed them.

“You… you…”

“Sh, sh, sh, I want you to stay here and be quiet, understood.” You nodded nervously. “Okay, good, I’ll be right back.”

He jumped over the counter, leaving you alone. You suddenly heard some gunfire, quickly covering your ears, tears slipping down your cheeks. You didn’t understand why Sicheng had attacked the others, or why the man who had a gun to you yelled. Everything was just a confusing mess and giving you a headache the more you tried to think about it.

The yelling and bullets eventually stopped, allowing you to calm yourself down. Then you heard other voices talking, you tried to listen but you couldn’t make anything out, the headache growing a bit. You suddenly heard your name being called, it was Sicheng, telling you to come out. You were slow to stand but then felt light headed, you almost collapsed, but Sicheng was quick to get to you and catch you.

“You’re burning up again.”

“I’m… I’m fine…”

“Kun! I need you to find some fever medicine.”

“Fever medicine? What-”

Sicheng was cradling you in his arms as you tried to focus, your vision a blur. You didn’t know who he was talking to, but then you saw someone sticking their head over the counter. They looked at you and then back at Sicheng, before disappearing from sight.

“Ten, can I get some gatorade or water, whatever you can find.”

“Sicheng… I said… I’m fine…”

“You’re not, just take it easy, I did say I was going to get you medicine remember.”

“Yeah… but what… what happened… with those other… they didn’t… do anything…” 

“They attacked me first, and that man had a gun to your head, I wasn’t going to let him hurt you.”

“But…”

“Like you said, not all humans are kind, we have to survive don’t we?”

You didn’t answer, your headache making it hard to do anything. Sicheng took the box from Kun when he got back, getting you to take some medicine with gatorade. You felt better when something cold was on your head, seeing another boy pressing a small tub of ice cream to your forehead, big smile on his face.

“Hello. Something cold should help with the fever.”

“Thanks…”

“Yeah, thanks, Yangyang.”

Sicheng held the ice cream to your head, you were starting to feel better. As the headache seemed to go down you noticed six other faces staring at you. It scared you a bit, making you hold Sicheng tightly. He chuckled over your actions, looking up at the others.

“Sorry, I should introduce you all. Y/n, these are my friends, I was going to mention that I was on my way to meet up with them when I found you.”

They all waved as Sicheng named them, you smiled, certainly feeling safer with more people around. You sat up when you felt like you could, Sicheng helping you up so you could sit on the counter.

“We need to get you some food.”

“That would be nice.”

“We also should go somewhere else.” Kun said. “Let y/n get some proper rest.”

“I saw a place further in.” Hendery added. “Apartment building, should have beds and all that stuff.”

“Sounds good.” Sicheng turned to you. “Can you walk?”

“Yeah, of course. I feel much better now.”

“Okay, I’ll get some more medicine and food, then we’ll go.”

“I’ll get it.” Xiaojun offered. “I’ll meet up with you guys later.”

“You shouldn’t be alone.” You said. “It’s not safe.”

“I’ll have Yangyang stay with me then, okay?”

“Okay.” Sicheng cut in. “Let’s go.”

He helped you off the counter, making sure you were steady and kept you close. You walked with him and the others, they carried your things to make it easier. You couldn’t help but smile, you had never travelled with a group before, and it was nice to have all those people around.

You came to an apartment building, Hendery and Lucas went into the building first, looking around and making sure it was safe. You noticed they all had weapons too, but you weren’t gonna say anything. That’s when you noticed you didn’t have your gun again, you looked at Sicheng, he probably took it from you when he had the chance. You wanted to say something but decided against it, you wouldn’t be needing it anytime soon anyway.

Eventually the two came back out, saying the place was empty and it was safe to go in. They decided to go up to one of the rooms on the top floor, better to have the aerial vantage point. Sicheng took you to the bedroom, telling you to lay down and he would see about running a bath to clean you up. You nodded, getting comfortable in the sheets, hearing the others rummaging around the rest of the apartment.

Sicheng eventually came back, he was about to help you out of your clothes but you told him you could do it yourself. He seemed a bit reluctant but let you wash up on your own. The water was a bit cold, which was very soothing to help the fever down. You didn’t want to take long, so you were rather quick with your bath.

When you stepped out you saw the room was empty. You went through the clothes in your bag, getting dressed, then looked around the room, maybe some clothes fit you and you could keep them. Eventually there was a knock at your door, Sicheng asking to come in. You told him you were decent and he came in with a bowl of ramen for you. He set it down on the nightstand, checking your temperature.

“You’ve cooled down, that’s good.”

“Thanks to you… and the others…”

“Well, you don’t have to worry too much anymore, I’ve got you, and they do too.”

“Why were you away from your group? It’s dangerous to travel alone.”

“Yeah, but sometimes it’s dangerous to be in a group. It was just so we could all get here easily, but you’re with us now, if you don’t want us splitting up again we won’t okay.”

“I’m with you now? Part of your group?”

“Yeah. We gotta stick together.”

“Sicheng…”

“What?”

“Thank you, for everything.”

“No problem. You should eat, and after take some medicine.”

“How long are we staying?”

“A few days.”

“We can’t… you shouldn’t…” 

“Don’t think-”

“I’m just slowing you down aren’t I…”

“That’s not true, look, if we keep moving, you’re never gonna get better. We can keep you safe, we will, you just focus on healing.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“Good, eat, I’ll be right out if you need me.”

You really did feel safe with them around, and calm. You ate the bowl of ramen, you couldn’t remember the last time you had it, and it was tasty. When you finished you walked out with the empty bowl, Sicheng wasn’t around. You smiled at the others and put the bowl in the sink.

“You feeling better?” Yangyang asked. 

“A bit, I’m gonna turn in for the night.”

“That’s probably best, sweet dreams.”

You chuckled. “I’ll try.”

They all seemed happy with your presence, but there was something else, you weren’t sure what but you ignored it. You got a glass of water and went back to the room, taking some pills for the night. You snuggled into bed, quick to fall asleep.

♥♥♥♥♥

Hours later, Sicheng creeped into the room, checking on you. He sat down on the bed, watching you sleep. His fingers gently glided over your forehead to reveal a little metal device there, the size of a button. His eyes glowed blue, the device flashing a similar color for a moment, making you squirm a bit.

“Sh, sh, sh, you’re okay, just rest. You’re perfectly safe with us.”

“Is that so?”

Sicheng looked over to see Kun leaning against the door frame, arms crossed. He definitely had some explaining to do for his actions.

“We do need to talk about the sick human on the bed. She won’t wake up now will she?”

“No, I’m keeping her under.”

“Good, now, your last report stated you were with a group.”

“I was.”

“And how come they were found dead a few hours ago? Except for y/n here.”

“I have my reasons.”

“Then explain yourself.”

“Y/n was compatible, the rest of them weren’t.”

“I figured that much, you’re not sloppy. That doesn’t explain why you did it though.”

“They deserved it, humans, they just care about themselves for the most part. I found one who doesn’t, rather selfless despite being sick.”

“Sicheng.”

“They were going to leave y/n behind, leave her for dead, I saved her, I’m going to save her.”

“And why do something like that?”

“It’ll work in our favor, kindness goes a long way after all.”


	2. Chapter 2

Sicheng was laying on the roof of a convenience store, staring at the screen his eyes projected. He didn’t blink, didn’t need to, and swiped through the reports from his group members. It seemed like they would be getting back together and going home soon, so it was best he started moving. He suddenly heard some commotion enter his hearing range and quickly rolled onto his stomach, crawling over to the edge, looking out at the town. 

His eyes continued to glow blue as he scanned for heat signatures around. He eventually came across a blob, zooming in further to make out figures. It was a group, so it seemed he had some work to do along with another report. He sighed and laid back down, not looking forward to it. For the time being he waited around, peeking out again when the group was closer and counting how many there were. They had split up, looking through stores for supplies, which made his job a little easier.

When it came to humans, he wasn’t to interact with them for his and the safety of his people. So he stuck to the shadows, moving around as quietly as possible, knowing where each person was at any given moment. All he needed to do was get close enough to scan them, see if they were compatible, but most humans weren’t. Finding a group of them was hard enough, given that many had disappeared underground, so finding one who was compatible out in the open was even rarer.

As expected, everyone came up negative. He thought he had finished and could leave but then noticed one heat signature far from the group. At first he thought he had missed someone earlier, but he counted again. They had come with the group, but to be alone, humans don’t really do that anymore. He didn’t think about it more and made his way over, sneaking through the store to get closer.

He leaned out from a shelf, watching, only seeing the back of someone’s head. His eyes glowed softly, and to his surprise, they were compatible. They suddenly turned around and he quickly hid himself, swearing under his breath, wondering if he had been seen. He took a moment to check the area, they were still alone in the store, so if things went south he could handle it on his own without interference.

“I’m not armed.” He was a bit startled by the voice. “It’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you.”

Sicheng stayed where he was, unsure of what to do. He heard footsteps coming towards him and took a breath. He slowly stepped out, meeting the human, it was a girl. What immediately caught his attention was the mask she had pulled down, then the sniffling. She noticed his staring and pulled the mask up, walking over.

“Sorry. I’m sick, and I gotta be careful, it’s kinda hard to find medicine these days.” He didn’t say anything. “Are you alone? You don’t have to be alone anymore. I’m with a group and we’re heading to a safe place. My name’s y/n.” 

You held your hand out, and even if he couldn’t see your face, he knew you were smiling. He noticed your eyes were certainly warm and trustworthy, but there was also a hint of tiredness. A sick human nowadays didn’t have a good chance of survival. He felt bad, but he was also concerned over what to do. His job wasn’t to save humans, it was to find compatible ones and report it. If you were dying, well, all humans were dying, but he started to think he should just put you out of your misery.

“Um…”

You lowered your hand a bit, sensing an awkwardness in the air. He quickly took it though, giving you a smile to help ease the tension. He didn’t know what to do yet, so it was best for him to be friendly with you. It would also be an interesting experience to befriend a human, even if for a while.

“Sorry, I just haven’t seen someone in so long.” You smiled when he took your hand. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Sicheng.”

“Hello, hello, glad to have found you.”

“How… how did you? I know I was hiding but I’m pretty good.”

“I heard you moving.”

“You… you did?”

“Don’t think too much about it, I’m sick, nose is stuffy but it’s like some of my other senses are heightened.” You giggled. “Come on, I should introduce you to Daniel.”

“Daniel?”

“Yeah, he’s the group leader and knows where to go.”

You took his hand and pulled him along, out of the store and to another part of town. It seemed the group had gathered somewhere, planning to stay the night. You dragged him over to who he assumed to be Daniel.

“Daniel! Look, I found-”

“What the hell! Who’s this?”

“Sicheng, he was alone in one of the stores. I told him he could stay with us and come to the-”

“Y/n!”

Daniel pulled you away, the others staring at Sicheng with unease then glaring at you. You and Daniel went to the back, out of hearing range, for a human, but Sicheng managed to tune in without anyone knowing.

“What were you thinking bringing some stranger here? And telling him he could join us.”

“There’s not many of us left… we need to stick together… we can’t just leave-”

“We? You’re not in charge here, I can’t just add another person to our group, we already have plenty.”

“I… sorry…”

Daniel sighed. “Did you find any medicine?”

“No… the shelves were all bare.”

“I see, sorry to hear that. Go find some place to rest for the night okay, I’ll go talk to your new friend.”

“If… I know I’m sick and might not make it… he can take my place if it comes down to it.”

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Daniel made his way back over, Sicheng pretending to be zoning out, but actually thinking about your words. You barely knew him and yet you were sticking your neck out for him, even giving up your own place. He didn’t really have hope for your survival, but it was interesting that you didn’t either. Daniel seemed to be thinking somethings over before speaking to Sicheng.

“Sorry about that, she just caught me off guard. You are more than welcome to travel with us, there’s safety in numbers.”

“I see, I should apologize too. I prefer to travel alone but y/n dragged me over before I could say anything.”

“Oh, well, my offer still stands. If you need supplies I suppose we can spare some.”

“Thanks, but I’m good. I’ll stick around for the night if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

He did stay, no issue with learning more about the humans. Besides, Daniel supposedly knew of a safe haven, that information would be useful. Everyone in the group seemed to have some sort of sleeping bag, setting up their place near one another, except you weren’t around. He went off to find you, seeing you set up your own place far from the group.

“What are you doing here? Alone?”

“I don’t want to get anyone else sick…”

“Oh, have you been taking medicine?” Sicheng sat down. “You know to help.”

“Not in a while. I haven’t found any recently… not surprising, but Daniel said where we’re going has medicine, so I’ll be okay, as long as I make it you know.”

“I see.”

“You should go to the others, I wouldn’t want to get you sick.”

“I don’t get sick, besides you shouldn’t be alone.”

“And you don’t have to be anymore. I’ll make sure you come along.”

“Thanks, although I’m a bit of a loner.” He set down his things near you despite your protests. “So I don’t plan to stick around, but thank you for your generosity.”

“What? It’s dangerous to be alone. Robots still roam around and they’ll kill you if they get the chance.”

“It’s also dangerous to be in a group, bigger target.”

“Ah… I suppose you’re right, but we’re going somewhere safe. You should stay, there’s not many of us left, and I’d be sad if something happened to you.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“It doesn’t matter. The world’s gone to hell, all we really have left is each other, there’s no point in being mean. I might not wake up tomorrow, so I’d rather be kind in my last moments.”

“I see. Well, you should get some sleep, you need as much as you can get.”

“Okay, but you sleep too, and stay, promise me.”

“You’ll see me when you wake up, promise.”

He smiled at you before heading back over to the others. Many were already laying down and in the middle of falling asleep. Daniel suddenly pulling him aside.

“Look, y/n means well, but you should keep your distance. It’s not good to get sick.”

“Is that what the rest of you do?”

“It’s also her choice to keep away.”

“Yeah, she says she’ll get better at your safe haven.”

“I don’t think she will.”

“What?”

“Look, you travel alone, so you know about dead weight.”

“And that’s y/n?”

“She’s sick, she’s a danger to the rest of us.”

“But she said-”

“It wouldn’t be smart to bring someone sick into a safe place.”

“Then why make that promise?”

“We needed the extra help gathering supplies, besides, it’s not likely she’ll make it anyway.”

“So you’ve been lying to her?”

“We’re a dying species, gotta cut out the disease. Look, tomorrow we’re leaving without them.”

“You all agreed to that?”

“Yes, you can come with but either way, I suggest you bounce early too.”

“Thanks for the heads up.”

“Yeah no-”

Without hesitation Sicheng drove a dagger through Daniel’s skull. Humans were horrible creatures, he knew that much, and these people only further strengthened his beliefs, except you, you were different, and compatible. His people were the next step in evolution, and not everyone was worthy of their gift. Of course, Daniel here had valuable intel, but he didn’t need to be alive to give it. Besides being a weapon the blade could also copy organic information, so while it was lodged in someone’s brain it could copy their memories before death took them.

The hilt of the dagger stopped flashing and glowed a solid blue, signalling it had everything. Sicheng pulled it out, the body dropping to the floor. He took a moment to upload the information on it to his own memory bank, his brain far more capable than that of a humans, the wonders of technological advances. His eyes remained shut as he quickly skimmed through Daniel’s memory files for information on a safe haven. When he opened them they flashed blue for a moment.

The safe haven was no joke, so he could report some good news, but there was something else he had to deal with first. Sicheng quietly made his way back over to you, finding you fast asleep. He watched you for a moment, seeing that being sick and laying on the ground didn’t help much. He reached into his backpack, grabbing a small metallic device. It was round like a button and he gently placed it on the side of your head. His eyes glowed blue as he activated the device, making it glow as well. You whined, thrashing around a bit, as if caught in a nightmare.

“Sh, sh, sh, don’t fight it, you’re going to be okay.”

Sicheng made sure you didn’t wake up, gently trying to push his own influence into your mind. He had to admit you put up a rather good fight given your condition, but you were never going to win. Once you gave in your body relaxed, snuggling up and he put you into a much more peaceful sleep than before. He stuck around for a while, skimming over your own memories and checking your vitals, you had a fever he was going to need to deal with. When he heard some shuffling his attention was pulled away from you and he stood up.

“I’ll be right back.”

He held a dagger in either hand, quietly returning to the group. There were quite a few humans, so he never expected to do things smoothly, but they had nowhere to go so it didn’t matter. A few of them never woke from their sleep, others tried to run only to collapse to the ground with a dagger in their head. Through it all he made sure you slept calmly, the screams of those around you not interrupting your slumber.

“Y/n! Y/n, we have to go! Get up!”

One of the others had managed to sneak away from the carnage, finding you in the back. They whispered desperately, trying to shake you awake, but you merely shifted in your sleep. When the device on your head glowed they finally noticed it. They stared at it for a moment, afraid of what it was and what was happening. 

Sicheng had been keeping an eye on your vitals while he was hunting, suddenly noticing a spike, and realizing another heat signature by yours. He growled, making sure you stayed under, and yanked out the dagger in the nearest body, downloading the files and cleaning the blade with his sleeves. As he got to you he noticed his runaway reaching for the device on your head.

Before they could even touch it he pulled them away, covering their mouth. They squirmed in his grasp, trying to escape, tears sliding down their cheeks, but it was over for them. Sicheng dragged them away from you, back to where the rest of the mess was. He pressed the tip of his blade against their temple, making them freeze.

“You humans are the real monsters.”

He drove the dagger into their skull, dropping the body, walking away as it seized up. Sicheng went around collecting the rest of the daggers, not caring to clean up the mess, he’d just make his report, and others could deal with the bodies. He cleaned himself up, then went back over to you, still sleeping, none the wiser to what had become of those around you.

Sleep wasn’t something he needed, so to pass the time he looked through the bags of the others, trying to figure out what to take. Taking care of a human wasn’t something he was equipped to do, so he needed to start somewhere. In his search he came across some medicine, glaring at the death bodies around him, another reason to despise them. At least he could take care of your fever now.

He had packed another bag, and used yours to stock up on what you’d need. Given how everything was going, his original plan was to kill you in your sleep, show you some mercy, and then disappear. But after hearing about how the rest of the group just planned to leave you he felt bad, and decided you were going to live instead of them. As the sun began to rise he made his report, omitting a few truths here and there, preferring to deal with the consequences later.

♥♥♥♥♥

After his report he woke you up, doing a quick perimeter scan. You took in a deep breath as you opened your eyes, feeling rather well rested, but something was a bit off. You felt floaty, like you weren’t all there, and your mind seemed to be caught in a fog. You slowly sat up, looking around and smiling when you saw Sicheng.

“You’re awake, good, you should eat.”

He handed you some granola bars and a bottle of water, along with some medicine. You stared down at the medicine for a while before looking up a him in shock. He smiled and ruffled your hair.

“I found some, now eat, you must be hungry.”

He watched you for a while, making sure you actually ate before starting to pack up. Even if you were conscious, Sicheng was limiting your brain function. It’s why you weren’t asking questions, or speaking for that matter, or concerned about the other group members. You took some medicine after you finished eating, Sicheng packing up your things as well and helping you with your bag.

“Come on, we’re heading south.”

If you were in your right mind you would have questioned that. South was basically enemy territory, everything there having been demolished and leveled to nothing, anyone who would go out there would basically wind up dead. Whatever was left of humans in the area were up north in hiding. Of course Sicheng basically had control over what you would actually register, so his words pretty much just went in one ear and out the other, all you knew was that you were travelling with him.

He took your hand and led you back through the store, having cleared a straight path out. You noticed all the bodies around, but you didn’t react, you didn’t feel anything. You should have screamed, realized what had happened and who was the cause but instead you stayed quiet. All you did was look around as if you were a child who didn’t understand what was going on. The images wouldn’t stay in your head either, the fog quickly wiping them away once you were outside.

At some point Sicheng had let go of your hand but you naturally followed behind him like a pet or a drone. A part of you tried to make sense of what was going on every now and then, but Sicheng was quick to distract by putting something else at the forefront of your mind. He had gone through your memories, so he knew what to bring up or what to suggest. Without talking he’d make you smile and laugh, ease your worries and make sure you were calm. He also monitored your health, deciding when it was best to stop.

He could go on for days without rest but you weren’t like him. Despite the small stops, you still dragged yourself behind him, too tired to go on, but he was making you. Although he did eventually notice, hearing your weezing, and seeing you somewhat speed walking behind him. The sun was barely sinking into the horizon by the time Sicheng decided to find some place to rest for the night. He felt like he was wasting time, but then you collapsed in his arms and he realized you were far more exhausted than he thought. He took note not to push you so far again.

You sat down with some water as he set out your sleeping bag, your eyes droopy, you probably would have fallen asleep if he wasn’t keeping you awake. He had you eat something and take some medicine before letting you lay down to rest. You quickly fell asleep, not even stirring around at night, too tired to move.

“Sorry about today.” Sicheng pet your head as you slept. “Just wanted to get you home, but you’re not like me. You need food and rest, a lot more too so you can recover. I probably made things a little worse, I’ll do better, promise. You can sleep in a bit tonight, sweet dreams.”

He waited till it was dark before exploring the area around. His night vision made it easier to navigate, and his first priority was looking for some medicine. He wasn’t sure how much he needed but given the times he could never have too much. Now that he was actually looking for supplies, he became aware of how much was really left. It was practically nothing, the first things to have gone seemed to have been medicine, as expected, which really wasn’t good for him.

All he really had to do was get you home, his people had medicine that would help you instantly, so it was all about keeping you alive. He had basic knowledge over how the human body functioned, but that was it. He did find something though, so he didn’t return empty handed.

You were still as he left you, sleeping calmly, getting the rest you really needed. He walked around, relatively bored, trying to think of a way to pass the time. He ended up lying down next to you, browsing through the memory files of the others. His report had been received, which reminded him, he couldn’t just get you home, he had to meet up with the rest of his group first, which meant he’d have to introduce you.

He sighed and looked over at you. He was curious as to what you were dreaming about, pushing you onto your back and deciding to peak. It was really just a blur of happy things, he did want to make sure you were alright, knowing that before you were mostly plagued by nightmares. Although he got an idea, he had always been rather curious about something and decided to look through your memories for something, not really an image, but a feeling. When he found what he wanted he pulled it to the front of your mind.

You let out a moan, whimpering in your sleep. Sicheng watched as your temperature rose higher than before, tossing around. Out of curiosity he made himself your focus, and soon enough you were calling out his name, reaching out and gripping tight whatever you could find. In the end you screamed out his name, panting, exhausted from the dream.

Sicheng had been monitoring your temperature and movements, as well as brain activity. It was interesting to watch the body react. He gently pulled back your cover, slipping his hand into your pants. You whined, still sensitive and even his light touch made you squirm. He pulled his fingers back, analyzing your juices.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have done that, you’re all messy now. Going to have to clean you up, but since we already started.” He leaned over and whispered in your ear. “Did you like that?”

You were still under, but his words reached you in your dream state. You nodded with a whine, making him laugh.

“Do you want more?”

“Please…”

He was quite curious over your ability to actually speak, but then again it showed how badly you wanted it. You were already a mess, and he knew of a place to go afterwards to get you some clean clothes. He pulled your pants down, as well as your panties, gently rubbing his fingers between your folds, massaging your clit.

Your response was a lot faster given you had barely any time to recover from your last orgasm. His touch was so precise, like he was reading a manual on how to do something like this and merely following instructions. He was a fast learner though, taking into account how you reacted to certain things. His free hand trailed up your shirt, pushing up your bra to grope your breasts.

Even if you were asleep you knew his touch was there, moving your own body along with his movements. You bit your lip, the words you wanted to scream were just hard to find. When he pushed a finger into you, you let out a moan, it had been so long since you’ve felt that way. He was pleased with your reaction, rather excited over what would become of you as he continued.

He started slow but quickly picked up the pace, finding your sweet spot almost immediately as he added a finger. You were a whimpering mess, begging for more in a hushed voice, not able to truly appreciate Sicheng. He definitely toyed around with you once you were close, seeing how desperately your body reacted and wanted release. He kept teasing and slowly leaned over to press his lips to yours.

You kissed back instantly, sensing him closer to you and wrapping your arms around him. He didn’t do much, gently following your lead as you kissed him with passion, wanting more and more of his lips. You moaned into his mouth, mumbling his name as you came again, holding him close. He chuckled as you came down from your high, snuggling against him.

He pulled you away, laying you back down. His fingers were a mess, but he was curious about something else. He gently placed them against your lips, which you happily took into your mouth, sucking and cleaning them off, even though you were never truly awake. He pulled them out with a pop, another whimper leaving your lips.

“We gotta clean you up now, come on.” He pulled up your pants and underwear. “Wake up.”

You were groggy as you opened your eyes, Sicheng pulling you up on your feet. Your legs were weak, so you stumbled next to him, not really aware of what had just happened. He had you wait around for him, telling you to clean up while he got you some new clothes. Even then you couldn’t put the pieces together, having no issue stripping naked before him and getting into some new clothes. He had also found you a new sleeping bag, settling you back down to sleep.

“Good girl.” He kissed your forehead. “Now I’ll let you sleep. Dream of me okay.”

♥♥♥♥♥

The days following you remained in that dream like state, mindlessly following him, although after a while he gave you your voice back, but only to a certain capacity. He’d ask questions about your life, you’d answer without a second thought or any lies, but you never got to ask him anything, it never crossed your mind.

As you approached the town Sicheng was to meet up with his people, he knew he had to get you somewhat back to normal. He found a place to stop, deciding to use his control over your memories to his advantage. You sat down and he lulled you to sleep so he’d have better access, going back to before you came across Daniel’s group. It seemed you had been surviving on your own, having set up camp where you found some medicine, planning to stick around until you got better.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit for making it on your own. But this will work nicely.”

You whimpered, tensing up a bit as he started to change things. Your hands shot up, wanting to grab your head, as if that would stop the headache, but Sicheng quickly caught them. Not wanting you to accidentally knock off the little chip on your head.

“Easy, this will only take a moment.”

You shook your head for a while longer until he finished, collapsing in his arms. You felt a lingering headache, but it wasn’t much of a bother anymore. He leaned you back against a tree, setting up his little campsite and going over his little story in his head. Of course when you woke up you had no reason not to believe him, might have to do with the subconscious feeling of trust he left in you.

He wasn’t kidding about supplies though, you were going to need some more medicine, and he hoped to stock up before confronting the others. Of course he should have paid more attention and done a proper sweep of the town, instead he was caught by surprise by another small group of humans. His first instinct was to keep you calm and made sure you didn’t run off, but he could tell your heart was racing, and something was frightening you.

He heard voices off in the distance, putting the pieces together quickly and springing into action. It was like before, a quick scan and if they weren’t compatible he’d drop them. He attended to you first, taking out the monster pointing a gun at you then taking you somewhere safe, preventing you from doing anything. As usual, no one was compatible, so there was just another mess of bodies. He thought he had gotten them all when he heard footsteps and quickly threw a dagger behind him.

“Rude!” He looked back to see Lucas holding the dagger inches from his head. “Can you be more careful.”

“Sorry, just on edge.”

“No shit, care to explain the bodies.” Lucas tossed back the dagger. “At least you better have a good explanation or Kun’s gonna be pissed.”

“He’s always pissed.”

“Alright, so if you got everyone why’s there a heat signature in the back?”

“That’s… okay Kun is gonna be pissed.”

“What did you do?”

“Nothing. Come on.”

You were still shaken up, somewhat scared. It was different to see a body than to watch someone die in front of you, so it would be harder for Sicheng to get rid of something so fresh in your mind. When the others saw you, Sicheng knew he’d have a lot of explaining to do, but his focus was on you. After making sure you had something to eat he volunteered to secure the perimeter, returning to being told you were asleep. Kun followed him when he went to check on you, and since you were asleep, it was time he talked.

♥♥♥♥♥

“So you had a malfunction.”

“I am perfectly fine.” Sicheng spat. “You can run a diagnosis check if you want.”

“Fine, then what made you do this?”

“Can’t I just be decent?”

“You kill humans, that’s not exactly in your job description, so I would say no.”

“Don’t start. I’ve seen the reports, Ten kills too, fucken hell, he toys with the humans, I don’t.”

“You both go beyond the job! Lucas is the only one who behaves.”

“That you know of, you should look through his memory files and see if there aren’t any inconsistencies with his reports.”

“Sicheng…” Kun sighed. “Look, whatever the reason, it’s not a good idea to have a human with us, this isn’t procedure.”

“Well it’s a good thing I’m not asking you, I’m asking him.”

Sicheng looked over at Yangyang who had been standing in the doorway for a while now. Once he was noticed he walked in the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, asking for your files as well as the group you had been with. Sicheng handed them over, somewhat glaring at Kun.

“So this Daniel.” Yangyang began. “Had information on an underground hideout?”

“Yeah.”

“And you killed him?”

“You have the information rig-”

“He could have been used as a means to get in Sicheng, he was useful. So, in all honesty, why did you kill him? And everyone else except the human sleeping behind me?”

Sicheng sighed. “I had no original intention of doing this, given that y/n was sick, I was going to wait for a chance to kill her in her sleep then make my report. Instead I was found out, she dragged me to the group, so I played along. The plan remained the same and I would disappear at night, but then I found out the group just planned to leave her, she was sick, I understood that, but they weren’t even trying to help. All she did was help them, she didn’t even truly think she’d make it, and she was very kind, adamant too about me taking her place since I was in much better health. She was compatible and deserved a chance, the others didn’t. We have the means to help her I jus-”

“Have you grown attached to this human?”

“I don’t-”

“Honesty, please.”

“I… if anything this is a project I’ve decided to take on. Whether she makes it or not is on me, and I will be fine with either outcome.”

“I see… well, her background does make her a very ideal candidate.”

“We can help her, and medicine can only do so much for now. It wouldn’t be bad to prepare them, would it?”

“You think that will help her illness?”

“It could, and either way, we’d get more extensive data on human illness.”

“I suppose… although you did mention staying.”

“For a few days, just let them get some proper rest, and then we head home.”

“Fine. Kun, get scouts to clean up Sicheng’s recent mess.”

“Will do.”

“You’re lucky she’s cute.” Yangyang stood. “I hope she recovers.”

Kun lingered for a while before heading out. Sicheng was relieved it had gone well, watching you sleep for a while longer. He was determined to keep you alive and get you back to full health. Like he said, you were a project for him, something else to do with his time really, besides, to him, you were an anomaly among his beliefs of human behaviour.

♥♥♥♥♥

Sicheng let you sleep in, having the chance to let you catch up on sleep. It was pretty quiet in the apartment, they didn’t need to verbally communicate, and most had other things to do. With their stay they needed someone keeping a lookout, and others checking out the town for anything strange. It really was quiet until Hendery and Lucas came running back.

“We have a group inbound from the north.”

“Humans?” Kun questioned. “This far south? What are they doing here?”

“No idea.” Lucas stated. “What are we going to do?”

“The usual.” Ten said. “We’ll have one or two of us check them out, and we’ll see what happens. There should be no issue.”

“He’s right.” Hendery added. “It’s just a usual mission then.”

“It’ll be fun.”

That was the idea anyway. The group was small, a little over a handful of humans, but nothing they wouldn’t be able to deal with. It seemed fine, that is until a certain group of them stopped outside the apartment they were in, and then entered.

They remained quiet, not wanting to interact, but then Xiaojun caught sight of them and realized they had their own technology, and were tracking your heat signature. They didn’t have scouts, so they were going to have to deal with the humans on their own. They thought they had the upper hand, but they underestimated what kinda of humans they were dealing with.

♥♥♥♥♥

You had been sleeping when someone approached you, ripping the chip off your head. It took a second but your eyes then snapped open. You sat up, looking around in a panic, before someone pulled your attention towards them. You got drowsy quickly, wanting to go back to sleep, but they gently slapped you awake.

“No, no, hey, stay with me, stay awake.”

“What…”

You wanted to ask who they were, but the words wouldn’t come out, they were barely formed in your head. The person was still a blur before you, and you really wanted to go back to sleep but they were very firm on not letting you.

“Hey, hey, can you tell me what you remember? Do you know what’s going on?”

“Hm…”

“Okay, can you tell me your name? I’m Jungwoo.”

“... y/n…”

“Good, good, that’s something. We need to go now.”

They helped you get out of bed, but you couldn’t stand. You felt a pain in your legs and they gave out. Jungwoo held you up though, deciding to pick you up in his arms and carry you out of the room. There was still a fog in your mind, but at least now it seemed like you could get out of it. When you were out of the room you noticed the boys on the floor, some metallic devices on their chest, roughly the size of a CD.

“Don’t worry about them, they won’t hurt you or anyone ever again.”

“Huh…”

“I’ll explain later.”

Despite his words you looked back, seeing Sicheng slumped against the wall near the room you had been in, lifeless. A part of you was sad and wanted to go to him, to stay with him, but another part was clinging tightly to Jungwoo, happy he was there, although you didn’t understand either of your feelings.

You winced when the sunlight hit you, hiding in Jungwoo’s shirt. He laughed but quickly checked to make sure you wouldn’t fall asleep. When you got your sight back you could see others, and they had weapons in hand, but not the usual kind, they were certainly modified for a specific purpose.

“We can’t stay here.” You heard someone say. “The bots will notice we shut down some of their own and come to investigate.”

“But we were supposed to find the border.”

“It’d be stupid to keep going, we’d run into them and wind up dead, we need to get as far from here as possible.”

“She might have answers.”

“We can question her later.” Jungwoo said. “When she has her mind back and knows what’s going on.”

“Then let’s get moving, we need to get far from here and fast.”

Jungwoo tried to get you to walk again but your legs just wouldn’t work. You managed to apologize but he didn’t have any issue carrying you again. The group gathered quickly and headed out. You couldn’t talk much, or do anything, but you looked back at the building you had been in. You weren’t sure if you were tired, but you swore you saw someone standing in the window watching you. They smiled and waved at you, eyes flashing blue for a moment.

You whimpered, squeezing Jungwoo. He seemed concerned, but he had no way of knowing if you were alright, you didn’t even know. When you looked back there was no one in the window, and you were left to wonder if what you saw was real. 


	3. Chapter 3

You laid on the floor, eyes looking up and out the window towards the blue sky. Everything was still hazy, and you weren’t even sure what had happened. All you knew was that you had been taken from Sicheng and his friends, and you didn’t know why. You heard the door open, but paid no attention.

“Hey, stay awake.”

“Why?” You sat up. “You haven’t told me anything, you just took me… you… you killed my friends.”

“We didn’t…”

“Then… ugh…” 

You closed your eyes for a moment nearly passing out. Jungwoo rushed over to you, forcing one of your eyes open and gently hitting your face.

“No, come on, I need you to stay awake.”

“I know… just… why don’t you just tell me why…”

“I don’t think you’d understand.”

“Tell me… or I will go to sleep.”

“Fine… what do you think is going on?”

“I think… you killed my friends… and kidnapped me…”

“Okay… what do you feel though? What do you remember about your friends?”

“I… I met Sicheng… he was looking after me… but… but he did… something… everything is foggy…”

“I know. You’re not going to like this.”

“Just tell me… please.”

“Your… friends… they’re… not human…”

“What? That doesn’t… make sense? What do you mean?”

“They were robots… designed to look like us.”

“W...why?”

“So they can gain our trust, go undercover, destroy us from the inside.”

“How… how do you know they can do that?”

“About two weeks ago one of our operatives reported something… strange. They saw these robots that were… herding humans like sheep. They had some drones nearby and our op also noticed not all the humans in the group were docile, or with a heat signature… it was an awful sight to see.”

“I… I thought they were trying to kill us? Why would they… what did they do to those people to even…”

“It’s what was done to you.”

“What?”

“It’s some sorta chip they put on your head, we call it a neural scrambler. They basically force you under their control, making you docile. They can control what you see, what you hear, what you think, practically everything.”

“What… what happened to those people?”

“They… our op managed to save them. Sniped the drones down, the bots, and the imposters. We know how to tell who’s really human now thanks to them. The fakes don’t have a heat signature, and they don’t bleed. As for those he saved, it took them a while before they returned to themselves. You’re probably not even sure what’s been happening the last few days, right?”

“Yeah… it’s all a mess… I mostly remember waking up in the woods with Sicheng, but everything else is a blur, even what I was doing before I met him. But why me? Why aren’t they killing us anymore?”

“No idea. That’s the scary part.”

“But… how… how does this explain why you won’t let me sleep?”

“It’s cause I don’t know if we’d be able to wake you.”

“Wake me?”

“The scrambler… you haven’t been in control of yourself, it’s like your mind has gotten used to being given orders, and when I found you your mind was being told to sleep. I took the chip off which woke you but your mind was left in sleep mode and it’s trying to go back. I don’t think we’d be able to wake you up if you fell asleep, at least not without our own neural scrambler. Something we don’t have.”

“But the one I-”

“It’s also a tracking device, we couldn’t take it, and even then I doubt we’d be able to operate it. We don’t understand our own minds as well as the bots do. For now, you need to stay awake until you’re back to normal.”

“How will I know?”

“When you remember what really happened with you. Sorry, I doubt you’re looking forward to that…”

“Not really… so how did you know the people I was with were… robots…”

“That building you were in, we were tracking your heat signature, you were the only one in there with one. And you saw them when I got you out of that room. The devices we shot them with, they’re mini EMPs with a blast radius of three feet, and once fired they go off when they connect with metal. You don’t have to worry about them anymore, we took care of it, all six of them.”

“Six?”

“Yes.”

“There… there were seven with me…”

“What?”

“The group… it was seven, eight if you add me.”

“Only six attacked us. We only took down six. Fuck.”

Jungwoo jumped to his feet and ran out of the room. This time around the group had found some abandoned house to rest in. It was a two story design, so you could hear Jungwoo rushing down the stairs and yelling about a problem. You didn’t listen in though, more concerned about what you had just been told.

The robots were evolving, wearing human faces now, and tricking people, like you. The world had gotten a lot scarier in just a few minutes. Then it dawned on you if you could actually trust the people with you, there was no proof they were humans either or that you were. The idea scared you and you rushed into the bathroom, looking through the cabinet. You found a razor, getting out the blade and cutting your palm.

You grit your teeth, but were relieved to see blood, to assure yourself you were human. Jungwoo came back into the room with backpacks, talking about leaving but then he saw you in the bathroom. When he saw the blood he panicked and ran over to you but you backed up, back against the wall, holding the razor like a weapon.

“Y/n-”

“How… how do I know you’re not a robot!”

“What?”

“How do I know you’re actually human! After everything you said, you could-”

“If I was a robot why would I tell you that?”

“To gain my trust!”

“Y/n, please, we have-”

“Get back!”

Jungwoo sighed and quickly approached you, taking the razor from you and using the other side to cut his own palm.

“See, I bleed, just like you, just like a human. I’m not a robot.” He pulled you close, letting your ear rest against his chest. “Hear that? It’s a heartbeat. I’m human y/n, and I swear you’re safe with me.”

You had calmed down a bit when you saw him bleed, his heartbeat somewhat comforting as well. He held you quietly for a while before pulling away, checking to make sure you were still awake too.

“Look, I know you’re tired, but we need to go. Surely that seventh robot you mentioned has been tracking us. I got medicine, so you’ll be alright, but we have to go.”

You nodded and followed him, grabbing your backpack and heading out. Everyone else was moving about gathering supplies, but you and Jungwoo went out the back.

“Wait, what about the others?”

“That other robot saw us, what we did, surely they’ve called for reinforcements, it’s best we split up and go our own ways, meet back up near the safe house. So it’s just gonna be me and you for a while, I hope that’s alright.”

“Yeah… it’s better to go in pairs…”

“Just stay with me okay, and we’ll be just fine. I promise.”

“I believe you.”

♥♥♥♥♥

“Wake up.”

Ten slapped Sicheng across the face, waiting for a response. At first nothing happened but then Sicheng’s eyes opened, flashing blue for a moment as he came back online. He shoved Ten away, ripping off the disk on his chest and chuckling it through a wall, getting to his feet.

“Take it easy, you’re not properly booted up.”

“Fuck off… where’s y/n?”

“Gone.” YangYang said. “The humans took her.”

“Damn it.”

“We have bigger concerns right now.” Kun interrupted. “The humans who attacked us, they knew what we were, they were prepared, and that’s a problem for our people and our plans.”

“What about y/n!”

“She was your responsibility, and you said you’d be fine with whatever happened to her.”

“Yeah, while under my care! We have to find her!”

“They took the chip off her.” Lucas said. “And we didn’t begin preparing her, so we have no means of tracking her.”

“That’s not true.”

YangYang projected a holographic screen, showing a map. There was a dot miles away from their current position.

“While you guys were getting your asses handed to you, I was hiding under y/n’s bed. When they woke her up she got out of bed, and I managed to quickly inject a tracker in her.”

“Why would you do that?” Kun asked.

“I like her, and I told you, her past makes her very valuable to us, and she’s compatible, so that’s all the more reason. It’d be a waste to just let her go.”

“She’s sick.”

“And who better to help her recover than other humans.”

“I could’ve helped her too.” Sicheng pouted. “Let’s just go get her.”

“We can’t just go.” Ten said. “In case you forgot we were attacked by a group of humans, and they won. She’s surrounded by others, and they have the means of taking us down.”

“And if they see us again.” Xiaojun added. “They’ll realize those EMPs don’t work on us. They already have a lot of information on us. We also need to report that.”

“We’re also gonna need back up.” Hendery said. “And we didn’t get the chance to scan them, so we can’t go in ready to kill them all except y/n.”

“Sounds familiar.” Kun mumbled. “I’ll make the report and gather reinforcements. Do we need anything else?”

“Gear, and repair items.” Lucas said. “We all need to run a diagnosis check to make sure nothing was damaged, even you YangYang.”

“I know.”

“We also need nano shots.” Ten said.

“For what?” Kun asked.

“I thought we were gonna prep y/n? Given the circumstances, better to do it now than wait till we get her home, cause look how well that went last time.”

“Fair point. We’ll get moving when we can, so rest up, and make sure you’re at a hundred percent.”

Everyone kinda did their own thing after that, Sicheng wound up in the room you had been in, fidgeting with the chip that had been removed from you. He was upset you were gone, feeling guilty for not having been better. He could only wonder how you were doing, given that he knew your mind was a mess at the time, and that you’d be getting your memories back soon enough.

“We’ll find her.” Lucas assured, leaning against the door frame. “I’m sure she misses you.”

“I doubt it. The humans probably shared their information, she’ll be afraid of us when we meet again.”

“If she remembers everything, then she’ll remember how nice we were, how nice you were. Unless you did something bad we don’t know about.”

“Well… I wouldn’t say it was bad… I was just curious.”

“What did you do?”

“I was curious about her vitals while… being pleasured.”

“What!” Lucas was laughing. “You did not! Oh man, did she kiss you?”

“She was half asleep… well, more like dreaming… and yes, she did.”

“Damn, you really like her.”

“No! I was just doing a test.”

“Right, right, yeah, of course, a test… okay I need to see this.”

Lucas walked in holding his hand out to grab Sicheng’s head but the other stood up, holding his hand out. He backed up, telling Lucas to stop but he didn’t, just stepping forward with his hands out.

“Come on, let me see!”

“No! Why would I show you!”

“I bet if your organic components were on you would’ve had a boner. Wait, did you fuc-”

“No! Go away Lucas!”

Sicheng shoved Lucas away, the boy still laughing, but stopped his approach. He kept laughing for a while, not worried about running out of breath, but he eventually came down.

“You’d be blushing right now too if you could. I’m so telling the others.”

“Don’t!”

“You can’t stop me, unless-”

“If I show you then you’d show the others.”

“No I-”

“I know you Lucas, fuck off, and if you tell anyone, I promise you are gonna need serious repairs.”

“Fine, fine, a story for another time. But seriously, we’ll get her back, and I don’t think she’ll hate you or something. You have been trying to help her get better, you’re the one who said being kind would work out for us. You crunched the numbers, so you have nothing to worry about.”

“I’d say you’re right, but humans are very unpredictable, so there’s no guarantee.”

“Then do what they do, have faith.”

♥♥♥♥♥

Thankfully it was cloudy, so the sun wasn’t beating down on both of you. Jungwoo seemed to be a far more experienced traveler than you, so he was leading, and he also knew where to go. It was kinda awkward at first, neither of you speaking, but you couldn’t stand it.

“Sorry…”

“For what?”

“Threatening you earlier… I didn’t-”

“No, you’re fine. It’s smart to be on alert like that, you can’t just trust anyone anymore.”

“Yeah… so… what were you doing so far south? It’s dangerous.”

“I know. We were looking for the border.”

“Border?”

“The bots are constantly moving north, demolishing everything. We wanted to know how far they were. Every two months a group heads down to see, we’ve been trying to determine how fast they’re moving so we know how much time we have.”

“Oh… sorry then.”

“About what?”

“Me… you guys didn’t complete your mission because of me…”

“Don’t say that, saving one of our own is important too. We weren’t just going to leave you there.”

“Thanks… so if you’re trying to figure out how much time you have, then you have a plan?”

“It’s still in the works, but yes.”

“That’s… that’s good to hear. I honestly don’t even know how we could fight back.”

“They’re just machines really, and you know how an EMP works, we just need something powerful enough to set a big one off.”

“Just like that?”

“I know, it sounds easy, but it’s not. Every day we don’t attack their territory expands, and that’s more ground we need to cover. Moreso, it’s dangerous to make one, what little bit of tech we have we can’t afford to lose, or our ammo.”

“So… how is this supposed to work?”

“We can probably launch a certain amount of EMPs at a time, take out their systems piece by piece, but one after the other. We can’t let them have a chance to fight back. If we can take back what’s ours here, then we can help the rest of the world.”

“Wow, that’s incredible. How long have you been with the group?”

“Almost a year now.”

“How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Leave that sanctuary, go out, go south, risking your own life.”

“Someone has to, and I know not everyone has the stomach to be out here. If I die, I know I did my part to save our kind.”

“Wow… you’re very brave. Did you fight in the war?”

“No, not at first actually. After the first… I was a mess, I couldn’t… function. I nearly died but I was saved and… looked after… but seeing those around me come and go… I knew I had to do more than just hide… I wasn’t cut out for the front lines so I mostly stayed back, helped with strategy and finding a way to help our species survive.”

“You… you don’t have to talk about it… I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

“I know. But what happened back then motivates me to keep going and doing all this. What about you? That is if you want to share, and you remember.”

“The last month or so is a blur but everything else is fine… I was working when it all went down. I was in the lab… so many things went wrong so fast I tried to help but… I couldn’t save everyone. I had to be dragged out before the smoke killed me.”

“What did you do? Before the war.”

“I worked in a hospital, bio-engineering.”

“I didn’t know you were a genius.”

You scoffed. “That title never fit me, and that career path is kinda useless now.”

“If you’re out here on your own, yeah, but a sanctuary, you have medical knowledge, you could help out a lot of people.”

“I tried doing that during the war too… doctors and anyone in the medical field were top priority targets back then… and considering my area was with tech, there wasn’t much I could do.”

“Things have changed.”

“Clearly.” 

You looked around, the emptiness, the silence, the world used to be so full of life, and now it was practically dead. Then you suddenly fell to your knees, holding your head, groaning in pain. Jungwoo quickly stopped, going to you.

“Breathe, breathe, what’s wrong? Y/n, talk to me.”

“I… he did this…”

“What?”

“Sicheng… I… I travelled with him like this too… he dragged me along for miles… he… he-”

You pushed Jungwoo away and threw up, remembering the feeling of that certain night, feeling disgusted with yourself over that.

“I see the memories are clearing up.”

“Oh gosh… the things he did… he… he killed people in that store… right in front of me…”

“What?”

“In that town you found me in… there were others… he attacked them… why… I thought… I thought they didn’t kill anymore?”

“I guess there’s something else going on… are you alright? Maybe we should find some place to stop and rest for a while.”

“No… no I’m fine. I’m not going to be a burden and slow you down.”

“You’re not either of those things, and in case you didn’t know, my plan is to get you to the safe haven alive.” He checked your temperature. “You’re also hot, you need a quick break and some meds, come on.”

He helped you to your feet and you found some tree shade to rest under. After taking some meds and drinking water you laid back to rest but Jungwoo shook you.

“No falling asleep.”

“Am I supposed to be awake forever?”

He chuckled. “No, I told you, once you remember everything, with no gaps or fog, you’ll be back to your old self, and you can sleep.”

“I’m honestly sick of it, and yet miss it. It felt like I was always asleep when I was with them. Except I wasn’t in control of anything, not even my dreams.”

“They let you dream?”

“Do they not?”

“The ones our op recovered, they were just in darkness, having remembered just walking and walking after they were caught. None of them really knew each other, maybe like two were from the same group, the rest were all from somewhere else.”

“That sounds terrifying… Sicheng just brought up memories from before… always keeping me in a good mood. He talked to me too… although I’m not so sure about what just yet.”

“Why do you use its name? It’s kinda weird.”

“Well… it sounds weird to say it kept me happy or that it… did things…”

“Wait were you hurt?” Jungwoo suddenly sat up. “Are you alright?”

“No, no, he… it didn’t hurt me… it did something else… the opposite of hurt…”

“The opposite…” It took a second for Jungwoo but then it clicked. “That’s why you threw-”

“Yes…”

“Okay, well… um… your treatment was certainly weird.”

“Yeah… so, how long… where’s this sanctuary?”

“Well, it’s kinda far, has to be since we’re very south. It should take us about a week, maybe less since it’s just the two of us. We might need to make a long stop or two to resupply.”

“Got it.”

You two basically played twenty questions twenty times, trying to fill the silence, and just get to know each other. You couldn’t really tell if your artificial tiredness was wearing off since the walking was also exhausting you. Although as you gained clarity you started feeling better, feeling like yourself. Of course that also came with consequences.

While walking you quietly fell to your knees, not from exhaustion but from agony. Jungwoo didn’t notice for a while, getting a ways away before noticing you had stopped. He rushed back to you, seeing the silent tears on your face. You didn’t even look at him.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong. Did it do some-”

“I… was with a group… when I met him… I brought him… introduced him…”

“If there are others out there, we can go find them. I have no problem taking a de-”

“They’re dead…”

“What?”

“He… while I was sleeping… it put me to sleep… and killed them all…”

“Hey, hey, that’s not your fault, you had nothing to do-”

“Why… why didn’t it kill… me… I shouldn’t… that’s not fair… I shouldn’t…”

“It’s not your fault, you can’t blame yourself for that. It made sure you were in no position to fight back. You didn’t kill anyone.”

“I brought him to the group! I told him, it, to stay, it’s my fault. It was hiding when I met it, it didn’t want to be found and I…”

“You didn’t know, y/n you didn’t know it wasn’t human, you were just trying to help someone in need. You couldn’t have known that would happen.”

“It’s my fault…”

“Don’t say that, it’s not, it’s not…”

You wound up sobbing into Jungwoo’s shirt. It probably wasn’t a good idea to just be out in the open, but he knew you needed some time. By the time you had calmed down the sun was barely in the sky, so you knew it had been a while. Jungwoo quietly found a place to rest for the night, you set down your sleeping bag and just sat there quietly.

“I don’t want to sleep…”

“I honestly don’t want you to either… I don’t think it’s a good idea yet… but I don’t want to leave you alone.”

“I’ll be okay, some time alone could do me good… and you need sleep, you’re the one in charge after all. You need to be at a hundred percent more than me.”

“Are you-”

“Please get some rest, I don’t want to keep you up. I don’t want to sleep anyway.”

“Fine, but wake me if you need anything, even company, okay?”

“Okay.”

You stayed with him for a while, waiting until you were sure he was asleep then leaving the room. You took your sleeping bag with you, going up to the roof of the building. It was a bit chilly out so you got into your sleeping bag, staring up at the sky. Since the world was so dark now you could always see the stars.

“I’m sorry…”

You mumbled to no one in particular, a few more tears sliding down your cheeks. You thought you understood how the world worked, but you were so wrong. There was so much you didn’t know, so much others didn’t know too. The world was changing again, and it was becoming dangerous for the humans who are left in a whole new way.

♥♥♥♥♥

Jungwoo woke up on his own, his body used to waking up at the same time. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He was a bit concerned since you hadn’t woken him up and then he noticed your sleeping bag was missing. For a moment he thought you left him, but your things were still with him.

He screamed out your name despite knowing that wasn’t a good idea. He didn’t know you that well but he had an idea as to where you would be, you were a careful person too. Jungwoo rushed up to the roof, finding you in your sleeping bag, laying back and unconscious. He rushed to your side.

“Y/n!” He pulled you into his lap. “Hey, wake up, wake up! Please!”

He noticed the dried tears on your face, seeing that you had come up here to cry some more. He was still panicking though, taking a breath when you finally opened your eyes, looking away from the sun and hiding in your sleeping back.

“Oh thank goodness, I thought you wouldn’t wake up. You scared me half to death.”

“I’m… awake… sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you, I didn’t want to wake you with my sobbing, but I guess I must have passed out.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay, and back to normal too.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Well, come on, you must be hungry, we should-”

“Hold on.” You closed your eyes and took a deep breath. “Being alone together like this… I’m not so scared of the quiet… maybe we can enjoy it a bit more…”

Jungwoo smiled. “Sure.”

The sun was warm against your skin, a cool breeze in the air. It was such a lovely moment one could almost forget the state of the world.

“Jungwoo.”

“Hm?”

“I remembered some other things… and you’re not going to like them.”

“What?”

“They talked about things… while I was around… I know why they didn’t kill me…”

“Why?”

“Cause I’m compatible.”

“Compatible? With what?”

“I don’t know, and it scares me.”


	4. Chapter 4

“How much longer are we going to wait.”

It wasn’t surprising that Sicheng was a bit impatient, given that they needed to stay put and get themselves together. No one had suffered any real damage, just minor inconveniences.

“Calm down.” Ten said. “We still need a plan you know.”

“Yeah we can’t just go up against these guys again without a plan.” YangYang added. “We got our asses handed to us.”

“You didn’t.” Lucas reminded. “You hid under a bed.”

“Kun told me to.”

“Since when do you do what you’re told. Let alone what Kun tells you to do”

“If it wasn’t for me we’d be going home. Sicheng should be thanking me or else he’d lose his girlfriend.”

“Ya! She’s not my girlfriend, she’s human.”

“That’s what you say now.”

“Enough.” Kun interrupted. “Can we calm down and focus. Where is she anyway?”

“About a day away from us.” YangYang pulled up a holo map. “They stopped here for the night, but they’ll probably get moving soon.”

“And we’re still here!”

“Easy, we can just send drones.” Hendery said. “Right?”

“Yeah. Have them scout ahead and keep an eye on her.”

“We still need a plan of attack.” Xiaojun reminded.

“So let’s talk about it on the way.” Sicheng added. “We’re wasting time.”

“Alright.” Kun said. “YangYang, send out the drones, and everyone pack up, we’re moving in five.”

♥♥♥♥♥

You and Jungwoo ate on the roof, enjoying the sunlight, and giving you a vantage point. You were both quiet, you had no idea what he was thinking but you were trying to figure out what being compatible meant. After eating Jungwoo grabbed a walkie from his bag and turned it on. You freaked out grabbing his arm.

“What are you doing? They’ll find us.”

“Easy, we’ll be okay. We only use this for a few minutes, just to check in with each other. Besides I can’t talk to everyone, only two, we won’t be found.”

“Okay.”

You trusted him, besides it sounded like they had done this before. Even if you were worried you were also excited. The way they were all coordinated and had contingencies for all kinds of situations, it really felt possible like there plan to take back the planet would work.

_ “This is beta five checking in, over.” _

_ “Beta five I read you, this is beta three, status, over.” _

_ “Two days out, all clear for beta five, over.” _

_ “Copy that, lay low, see you at base, over.” _

_ “See you at base.” _ Jungwoo lowered the walkie. “See, easy.”

“What… what was all that? But you don’t know their status?”

“It doesn’t work like that. It’s like a circle, I tell one person my status, and someone will tell me theres.”

“What?”

“I can explain better when I hear from another.”

“Wait another?”

“Yes.” 

_ “This is beta two checking in, over.” _

“See. Told you.” He chuckled and got up for a better signal. _ “Beta two I read you, this is beta five, status, over.” _

_ “Two and a half days out, minor drone issues, all clear now for beta two, over.” _

_ “Copy that, lay low, see you at base, over.” _

_ “See you at base.” _

“So you only tell one person you’re okay?”

“Yeah, if anything had been wrong, beta two would have told me, whether it was a problem from them or from whichever group they heard from. But since I got the all clear then it seems everything is okay. Now I just leave the walkie on for a bit, give enough time for all the info to circulate, and if I don’t hear anything in like two minutes, then everything is okay. It’s just one big circle, but no one ever knows everyone’s location, just status really.”

“So what if there was a problem?”

“Well, let’s say we had a problem, then the group I told it too, beta five, would be the ones to help. Everyone else would know we’re having trouble, but also know that someone is helping us. It’s really just used to explain any delays in arrival to the rendevu point.”

“Wait I thought we were going somewhere safe?”

“We are, but we meet up some place first before going to the safe haven. It’s better that way so we’re not opening the door all the time, and also cause we don’t have the password. It’s a whole phrase and we all know different parts of it, so as you can see, we can’t just go in by ourselves.”

“That’s pretty smart, especially since robots have human faces now.”

“Exactly. So, are you good to go?”

“Yeah.”

Before you started packing up Jungwoo checked on your fever, you felt better, and it had gone down, but you weren’t completely healed.

“How have you been feeling anyway?”

“Not so sick, still just tired though.”

“Yeah, maybe we should stay awhile and let you sleep.”

“No, no that’s not a good idea. I can sleep when we get to the randevu. We need to keep moving.”

“If you say so.”

It wasn’t long before you two were back on the road, finding anything to talk about to help pass the time. It was nice, if the world hadn’t ended you’d think this was just a fun adventure between two friends.

“Hey Jungwoo.”

“Hm?”

“How do you know where to go? You don’t have a map or a compass.”

“I do, I just don’t need to look at it.”

“Cocky.”

“No, I’ve done this many times before. At this point I know this terrain a lot better than most people.”

“So then you know where we’re going to stop for supplies and the night.”

“Pretty much. So you don’t have to worry about it.”

“At least I know that.”

Around noon, when the sun was at its highest point Jungwoo found place to resupply and lay low, to avoid heat stroke. You only stayed for about an hour before you kept moving, chewing on some snacks while you walked. It was mostly calm, and you hoped the trip would always be that way, but you were wrong. While walking, something in Jungwoo’s bag started beeping.

“What’s that?”

“An alarm.”

“Alarm? For what?”

“That!”

Jungwoo didn’t even grab whatever was beeping, looking up at the sky with wide eyes. You didn’t get to look for yourself before he grabbed your hand and started running. At that point you didn’t care to look back, focused on following him and staying close. You wound up going into the nearest building you could find and getting out of sight. Jungwoo put his bag down, grabbing this phone like device, that was still beeping, and shutting it off.

“Jungwoo what’s going on?”

“Drones. Two appeared and might have locked onto us.”

“What… what are we going to do?”

“You need to stay here.”

“Me? What about you?”

“I need to take them out or else we’re going to be stuck.”

“Are you insane! Jungwoo, please!”

“Y/n, I’ve done this before, I’m going to be fine, just stay here.”

“Jungwoo…”

“It’s okay. I won’t be gone long.”

You nervously sat down. This kind of fear you felt everyday, every moment, the fear of being found by the bots. But now that you were found, it felt like when the war started. Every step was dangerous, and hiding didn’t bring a piece of mind but made one feel cornered. Knowing a drone, two drones, were around was just as bad as a robot. Those flying orbs that were at least four times bigger than a basketball, completely silver and looking in every direction, it was like flying metal, but deadlier.

You watched as Jungwoo grabbed parts from his bag, assembling a gun, like the ones you had seen him and his group use before. You really didn’t want him to go out there alone, but he clearly only had one gun and even then you didn’t know how you could help since you were paralyzed with fear. He gave you a reassuring look before leaving the room.

You waited anxiously, trying not to count the seconds, and trying not to think about the worst case scenario and what you would do if you were alone. Everything was going to be fine, you had to believe that, you wanted to believe that, but then you heard a scream. There was no doubt in your mind it was Jungwoo who had screamed. You whimpered, feeling the tears coming on, feeling like it was over, but you couldn’t give up so easily.

You swallowed your fear and found something to use as a weapon. You took a breath and walked out into the open, looking around. You wanted to call out for Jungwoo, but you knew it wouldn’t end well. You heard him scream again and rushed over to where it had come from, needing to find him. When you turned the corner your eyes went wide, now face to face with a drone.

Even though there was no way to know which side was the front of the floating sphere, you knew it could see you. Before you could even think to run the thing split down the middle and the bottom half lowered itself, revealing a gun barrel in order to shoot you. When things first started, you knew the drones had bullets, but that wasn’t the case for you. Instead you were hit with a small disk, the thing electrocuting you to the point of making you pass out, and you collapsed to the floor.

♥♥♥♥♥

Jungwoo stayed low when he left you, the beeping device was a locator he had with him so he could tell where the drones were. He managed to hit one that was outside from a window, but he wondered why the two hadn’t been together. He then heard screaming, you scream, and ran to find you. When he saw you on the ground he was worried and then he noticed the drone floating over to you. He didn’t hesitate to shoot it down, rushing to your side.

“Y/n!” He pulled you into his lap, gently shaking you. “Y/n! Y/n are you okay?”

“Hm…”

You slowly came too, seeing Jungwoo and noticing you were in his arms. He was relieved that you were awake, noticing the device stuck to your shirt and yanking it off, tossing it to the side.

“What… what happened…”

“I don’t know, you tell me. I told you to stay in the room.”

“But… but I heard you scream…”

“I didn’t scream.”

“I heard you…”

“Even if I did… you came out to help me, you’re crazy, you know that.”

“I wasn’t gonna just leave you… I have nothing without you.”

“Well next time I tell you to stay put, you stay put, promise?”

“Promise.”

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah.” You sat up. “I can mark getting tased off my bucket list. We should go, it’s not a good idea to stick around these things.”

“Couldn’t agree more.”

You were both in a hurry to move and get as far away as possible. At first you stumbled around a bit, the extra electricity still messing with you until it passed. Jungwoo stayed close to make sure you didn’t fall over and hurt yourself.

♥♥♥♥♥

“What happened to laying low?”

The guys had caught up to the drones, taking a small break in their journey to repair them. Sicheng was working on the one indoors, YangYang with him.

“Honestly, given that we’re now being delayed, I figured you’d be upset, even if this is your fault.”

“I would be but we learned something.” Sicheng admitted. “Joshua and TJ only recorded two heat signatures.”

“Which means?”

“The group split up. It’s only y/n and that guy. We don’t need to be so cautious when we get close, we outnumber them.”

“Well you’re lucky they just used an EMP again, if Joshua or TJ had been damaged I would beat you.”

“I know, I know.” The drone Sicheng was working on glowed blue and floated back up. “There we go, back online. You good Joshua?”

The drone flashed blue and spun around, Sicheng petting it. Joshua then showed his weapon, revealing the missing slot for a taser disk. Sicheng had found it earlier and reset it, putting it back where it belonged.

“Told you mimicking his voice would work.” YangYang said. “You’re welcome by the way, but why did you have her tased anyway?”

“If we took them both out, it’d stop them for a while, letting us catch up.”

“True, by the way, TJ learned something about our kidnapper.”

“How far are we from her now?”

“Half a day, maybe more depending on where they stop for the night.”

“That’s good. We can get moving now.”

“I’ll have TJ and Joshua head back home then. Don’t want them getting hurt.” 

“Agreed.”

♥♥♥♥♥

Your chest still hurt a bit from the sting of that disk earlier. It all happened so fast, and you wondered why you weren’t killed, then again it probably had something to do with you being compatible. As night approached Jungwoo knew exactly where to go. There was this big house, you’d think it would be a mess but it was a bit clean, Jungwoo telling you his group used the place often. 

“I wish I lived in a place like this.”

“Given your career, I think you would have.”

“Really? This place is clearly expensive.”

“Well maybe we’ll find out someday.”

“Maybe.”

Jungwoo went up to the second floor, finding a room to set up for the night. The two of you ate together, and you were glad you could finally get some sleep.

“What’s it like?”

“What?”

“This… safe haven of yours… your home.” 

“Ah. Well, it’s pretty big, underground too. We have a farm area where we grow most of our food, a nice place to soak in the sun, an infirmary, kitchen. It’s like a community home with everything we could need.”

“It sounds great. You know, you should teach me how to use your gun.”

“Have you ever shot one?”

“I used to have one… I think Sicheng took it from me. I fired it a few times, never at a person though.”

“Well you won’t with this one either. It’s fairly similar, just bigger, and it doesn’t shoot bullets. How about tomorrow before we leave we get some practice in.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

As you laid back it dawned on you just how long it had been since you actually went to bed. You curled up in the sleeping bag, exhaustion quickly catching up with you and you drifted off to sleep. Lately you slept well, and there was a reason why, a reason you no longer had. You weren’t sure for how long you were actually asleep, but you woke up screaming, quickly covering your mouth, feeling the tears on your face.

You startled Jungwoo awake. The boy was quick to grab the gun he had close, looking around for a target but only seeing you trying to quiet your sobs. Despite wanting to comfort you he got up and quickly went to check outside the room to make sure no one was around. He put the gun down when he returned, quietly pulling you into his arms.

“You’re okay, you’re okay y/n.”

“I…”

“Sh, you don’t need to tell me.”

“I… I do… I… I remembered something…”

“What is it?”

“They… the scrambler… it… he went through my memories…”

“They can do that?”

“You’ve told me everything… if… if they…” You were starting to hyperventilate. “If they get me again, they’ll go through them and find out everything. If they… I’m so sorry, I… I’m-”

“No, no, hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m not going to let them take you. When we get to the safe haven you’ll stay there, you’ll be safe. They won’t get you, I promise.”

“Don’t make promises like that.”

“Sh, just take a deep breath. I’m going to keep you safe.”

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to wake you…”

“I’m fine, what about you?”

“I just… it’s never been easy for me to sleep ever since… I’m always tired.”

“You’ll be okay, and I’m sure you’ll get some good sleep soon.”

“Can you… can you…”

“What?”

“Can you just stay close.”

“Of course.”

It was a bit easier to sleep then, maybe it was cause you knew Jungwoo was close. Maybe you just slept better when you knew, when you felt, that you weren’t alone. Jungwoo stayed up, waiting for you to sleep, and making sure you were okay before getting some sleep too. You didn’t wake up again until morning, the sounds of birds scaring you a bit more that sounding peaceful.

You sat up, seeing that Jungwoo wasn’t with you, probably checking the perimeter. You figured you’d wait for him and grabbed a snack, packing up your sleeping bag. You stepped out of the room, seeing the sun that was barely on the rise from a nearby window, it was quite lovely. Since you had the time you figured you’d look around the house a bit, wondering what kinda things you could find.

“Y/n!”

“Jungwoo?” You heard his voice but couldn’t find him. “Where are you?”

“Down the hall, come on, there’s something I want to show you.”

“Is it some cool rich thing?”

“Something like that.”

You chuckled and followed his voice, being called into a room. You walked in, seeing some pretty cool paintings, and then you notice who was in the room, Xiaojun.

“Long time no see.”

Your eyes went wide with fear, but unlike last time, you didn’t freeze. You bolted for the door, only to watch it slam shut, Ten having been hiding behind it. You didn’t seem to find any other way out, knowing your only hope at this point was to scream. Once you did the two rushed to you, Xiaajun covering your mouth and holding you still.

You thrashed in his arms, trying to get free, but it was useless. When you noticed the chip in Ten’s hand you tried to scream again, wanting to get away from him. You kicked at Ten, trying to keep him away, but that caused Xiaojun to shove you against a wall. You were pinned, with little room to move.

“I didn’t know you’d be such a squirmer.” Ten said. “If you fight it’s going to hurt, so don’t.”

You weren’t surprised to feel the tears falling, your heart racing. You closed your eyes When you felt the chip, a headache started to form. It hurt like nothing before, and it gave you some strength to fight, but the two boys wound up pinning you.

“Y/n, just give in.” Xiaojun said. “You’re only hurting yourself.”

“You’re not going to win.”

“Let her go!”

Jungwoo burst into the room, firing without hesitation. The disk landed on Ten and quickly went off, the two collapsing to the floor along with you. When you hit the floor you screamed, the headache becoming something different as the chip shorted out while still on you. Jungwoo rushed over to you and ripped it off of you, seeing the small burn it had left.

“Fuck. I’m sorry.”

“We… we have to go… now…”

“I know, come on.”

Jungwoo helped you to your feet. You followed behind him, a bit dazed, but you kept moving. Although, after a few steps you collapsed to the floor, your leg hurting.

“Y/n, what’s wrong?”

“My leg… ah, it hurts.”

“Let me see.”

He checked to see another burn on your leg, darker than the other, clearly from something internal.

“You… you had a chip in your leg.”

“What! They’ve been tracking me… you need to go.”

“What?”

“They’re after me, if you stay they’ll kill you.”

“I’m not leaving you to them.”

“Someone needs to tell the others about those chips, and that EMPs don’t work, and that your plans are compromised.”

“I am not leaving you. Look the chip is clearly fried, the tracker won’t work anymore, they won’t follow us.”

“I can’t walk on this…”

“Yes you can, I’ll help you.”

“I am not letting you die cause of me!”

“We go together, that’s final.”

Despite your protests Jungwoo helped you to your feet, wrapping an arm around your waist. You swore to yourself but moved as best as you could.

“I have some pain killers, they’re for emergencies.”

“You need to leave me.”

“I told you last night, I am getting you somewhere safe.”

Somehow you managed to get back in the room. Jungwoo sat you down, handing you his gun and giving you a quick tutorial, telling you to aim at the door and shoot at anything that came through. He went through his bag, getting a syringe and sticking it in your shoulder.

“It should take effect in a few seconds.”

“How did you even find me?”

“I heard a door slam and then you screamed.”

“Ah, thanks, but what are we going to do now? We can’t just outrun them, or lead them to the rendevu point.”

“We’ll take a quick detour, and if we can shoot them all down for a while then we can lose them properly.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t know about the tracker, and the two of us can get away on our own.”

“I’ve been nothing but trouble.”

“And I’ll do it all again without a doubt.”

Jungwoo packed the essentials quickly, and when you got to your feet you felt good, the pain practically nonexistent, you could run. You handed Jungwoo the gun back, grabbing your bag and following him out. He knew the house, so you avoided the big halls, getting downstairs quietly. Being with him inspired confidence, but you should have known better. When you stepped out to the backyard patio Kun revealed himself.

Jungwoo shot at him, but Kun grabbed the disk in midair, letting it go off, and nothing happened. He chuckled after the EMP went off, examining the disk for a bit before dropping it to the floor and crushing it under his foot. There was no doubt in your mind how this was going to end, but you had to try and change at least something. You took a step forward, standing in front of Jungwoo.

“Please…”

“Y/n, what are you doing?” Jungwoo hissed, grabbing your arm. “You-”

“Please let him go.” Your voice was shaky. “You just want me right? Please…”

The rest of the group appeared from behind. Jungwoo quickly turned around, his back against yours. You refused to look back, not wanting to meet eyes with Sicheng, but when you heard footsteps approach, you knew they were his.

“Get back!” Jungwoo yelled. “I said stay back.”

“Your gun is nothing but a toy, so drop it.”

You pushed back the tears and turned around, pushing Jungwoo’s gun down. You got in front of him again, this time pleading to Sicheng.

“Let him go, please. Make him forget me, forget all of this, but just let him go!”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Please! I’ll go with you, I won’t fight, I won’t run again, please!”

The others slowly spread out until you were completely surrounded. You held on tight to Jungwoo, taking slight steps back as Sicheng approached.

“Sicheng please…”

“Y/n.” Jungwoo mumbled. “Y/n…”

“Don’t kill him.”

“Y/n!” Jungwoo turned you around to face him. “If they were going to kill me they would have done it by now.”

“What?”

“I’m compatible.” He looked at Sicheng. “Aren’t I?”

“Someone’s been talking.”

“No, no you… you… Jungwoo you have to run!”

Once the boys had surrounded you, they slowly approached, getting closer until Sicheng could snatch you away. Others quickly grabbed Jungwoo and forced him on his knees, keeping him there. You tried to get away from Sicheng, but his grip was firm.

“Y/n cut it out.” You were pulled into a hug. “I know it’s been scary without me but it’s okay, I’m here.”

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing, feeling far more afraid than comforted. His grip on you loosened a bit and he noticed the burn mark on your head.

“Ouch, that must have hurt.”

“Sicheng…”

“Sh, I’m here now, you’ll be okay. I just need to be sure.”

You weren’t sure when or how, but he had a chip in his hand. You started thrashing a bit but Kun held you in place. Your head was still a bit fuzzy from before, but it didn’t stop the headache from being just as bad. You hated how it felt familiar this time, and a part of you just wanted to let everything happen, to let him in again.

“Stop hurting her!”

“She’s doing this herself.” Sicheng said. “She said she wouldn’t fight.”

“If you let me go!”

“Who’s taking him anyway? Cause he needs to shut up.”

“I will.” Lucas volunteered, getting a chip from his pocket and getting down to Jungwoo’s level. “I highly suggest you don’t fight this.”

“I won’t give in easily.”

“You’re not going to win if that’s what you think.”

“We’ll see.”

“Cocky, I like it.”

You had been holding back your screams, biting your lip, almost breaking skin, then you heard Jungwoo scream. It caught you off guard, something you never wanted to hear in this situation, but that small moment of hesitation was all Sicheng needed to get in. You collapsed into his arms, your vision becoming a bit hazy, the screaming now a distant sound.

Sicheng held you, easing you back into a calm and submissive mental state, like he had you before. You cuddled against him, quickly feeling comfortable and safe and happy with him. Your hearing suddenly came back and Jungwoo’s screaming startled you again, making a few tears fall.

“Easy, it’s okay, he’s going to be just fine. Just like you.”

You vaguely noticed the needle he had, whatever was in it had a slight blue glow, but all you did was tilt your head to the side. You didn’t really feel a prick, probably not even going to remember what had just happened. Sicheng kissed your head, his eyes glowing, seeing the changes within you since he last checked.

“Not so sick anymore, that’s good. Now come on, you haven’t eaten yet, and we need to get that tracker out of our leg.”

Sicheng took your hand and lead you away from the patio and back inside. You looked back to see that Jungwoo had stopped screaming, still on his knees, a blank stare on his face, a chip on his head too.. You kept your eyes on him for as long as you could, feeling guilt but not being able to fully understand why. It wasn’t long before you were completely swallowed into the fog, your worries fading away.


	5. Chapter 5

You sat quietly in a bed, whimpering when you felt a sting on your leg. Sicheng had told you to sit still while he got that tracker out of you. He was careful and precise like a surgeon, being quick about it and wrapping up the wound.

“See, all done. Wish it hadn’t hurt you but it served its purpose. It helped bring you back to me.”

He kissed your head, disposing of the tracker. Your eyes wandered over to the door, hearing voices down the hall, hearings Jungwoo’s. He was on the radio, giving the all clear to the rest of his group. It would have taken Lucas a while to learn about the radio thing, but since Sicheng had less to go through in your memories, he was quick to bring it up and make sure the others weren’t worried or suspicious about you two.

It hurt to walk a bit but Sicheng helped you, taking you into this big living room. Everyone was gathered there, going over their gear. Lucas was sitting on the couch, looking through Jungwoo’s memory files, the boy sitting next to him, staring at the floor. Sicheng sat you down, telling you to wait while he got you something to eat.

“Found it!” Lucas mumbled. “They have a whole safe house. Big place, lots of people, it was built in the second year of the war.”

“See, and with Jungwoo, we have a way in.” YangYang said. “See how beneficial things can be when you don’t just kill people. Right Sicheng?”

“We wouldn’t even have him if not for y/n, so you’re welcome.”

“Ya, you can’t take the credit here.”

“Whatever. Either way, it’s not going to be easy to get in. They have a pretty sophisticated security system.”

“On top of that, the rest of the group knows our faces.” Ten added. “We can’t let them live, not if they’re of no use to us.”

“Then let us go to the rendez-vous point.” Kun said. “From there we can make a plan. After all, they’ll be coming to us.”

“No-”

Everyone’s eyes were suddenly on Jungwoo as he had fallen to his knees, grabbing his head. Lucas was amazed, seeing the boy try to fight him, he laughed.

“Does y/n ever do this?”

“She knows better than to try that.”

“Lucas ease up before he hurts himself.” Kun said. “Now.”

“Alright!”

Lucas lowered his hold on the other, Jungwoo taking a moment before getting his senses back. He looked around the room, and immediately wanted to punch Lucas. Of course he couldn’t, all he could do was hold his fist up, making Lucas laugh.

“You think I’d just let you have full control of yourself, you humans are strange.”

He groans and steps away, and then he sees you. His eyes go wide and he approaches you. At that time Sicheng came back in with something for you to eat, although he was quickly glaring at Jungwoo, knowing he was mostly himself again and going towards you.

“Back off!”

“Oh come on he’s not gonna do anything to your girlfriend.” Hendery said. “Leave him alone.”

“She’s not-”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“Whatever.”

Sicheng set the food down on the coffee table, going over to look through his supplies. Jungwoo hugged you, but you didn’t react, merely staring blankly ahead. He stayed close, looking at you, your empty stare hurting him.

“I’m sorry… this is my fault… I couldn’t…”

Junwoo noticed that no one was really paying the two of you attention, so he slowly reached up his hand, planning to get that chip off. You quickly grabbed his hand, and he could see it in his eyes that you weren’t there, probably following some precaution Sicheng had put in place. Despite it all his actions still alerted the others. Sicheng ran over and shoved Jungwoo away.

“Think you’re so smart? That would only-”

“I was just trying to check her fever!” Jungwoo quickly spat back. “You must be some paranoid machine to make her react to anyone getting close to that chip! Like putting a chip in your dog so you don’t lose them again.”

“Shut up! You’re just another weak human.”

“Then so is she! At least I would know how to take care of her! What would you know about human health! She’s not some mindless toy for you to use!”

“I’ve been looking after her since before you came into her life!”

“Before I rescued her from you! Fuck, you don’t even have the deceny to let her be herself! Don’t want anyone talking to her? Scared or something! Let me talk to her!”

“You humans are all the same. Pathetic creatures that-”

“Enough!” Kun yelled. “Enough, both of you. You look stupid arguing. Lucas, keep him in line, and Sicheng, let him talk to y/n.”

“No.”

“Sicheng.”

“Fine.”

Sicheng kissed your head and you slowly returned to yourself, blinking a few times as your vision cleared up. The first thing you saw was Sicheng smile, but you knew everything, so you had to admit you thought it was weird to be waking up, especially when you realized you were still in that house. When he stepped away you saw Jungwoo and he rushed over to hug you.

You were surprised, and confused over everything. He was apologizing for something but you weren’t really listening, just trying to figure what was going on. Then you noticed the chip on his head and you started feeling guilty, tears stinging your eyes. He noticed, trying to calm you down, telling you there was no reason for you to cry.

“This… this is my fault.” You sniffled. “I shouldn’t have stayed with you… after everything I remembered you should… I should have left you… for your own sake.”

“What did you do!”

Your sobs couldn’t really be hidden from them, no matter how soft and quiet they were. Sicheng was pulling Jungwoo away from you, and you snapped back to yourself. You ran over and grabbed Jungwoo, holding him tight.

“Nothing! He didn’t do anything! Sicheng-” You grabbed your head, feeling him trying to push you under. “Ah! Wait…”

“Y/n. Don’t.”

“Stop!” Jungwoo pushed Sicheng back, squaring up. “You’re hurting her!”

“Back off!”

“I’ll be good!” You fell to your knees. “Please…”

“Sicheng stop it!” Xiaojun ran over, separating the two. “You’re gonna break something if you keep pushing her like this!”

It was stupid to fight, you knew you weren’t going to win, but the thought scared you, even though you knew you’d be stupid happy in your own head. The only reason you were like this now was because of Jungwoo, you didn’t want to leave him alone, and maybe if you stayed in your own mind, Woo would too.

“Fine.”

You took in a deep breath, panting, wearily looking up at Sicheng. He helped you get back on your feet, but you winced from the pain.

“It was stupid of you to run on that leg.”

“Sorry…”

“Come on. You need to eat, and then we can get moving.”

You glanced at Jungwoo but sat back down. Sicheng sat by your side, making sure you had every bite, checking your vitals, and then helping you pack your things. Despite everything he made sure you and Woo didn’t carry any food or water so you didn’t get any ideas of running, not that it would even work out if you did try. 

“Just one more thing.”

Sicheng grabbed a syringe from his back, the contents having a faint blue glow. You couldn’t help but shy away when he approached you with that.

“Easy. It’s nothing bad.”

“What… what is that?”

“Um… well it’s kinda like medicine for you really. It’ll help your leg heal faster and work as a painkiller so you don’t hurt yourself while we’re out there.”

“Okay…”

You expected him to grab your arm but he went for your neck instead. It stung like all needles did, and you had to admit you felt a bit floaty afterwards, but it didn’t last long. With that done and everyone else packed, you headed out.

“I don’t want you to kill my friends.” Jungwoo said. “There has to be another way.”

“What!”

That was the first time you had heard something like that, and you wanted to ask questions, not liking any idea that came to mind. Sicheng pulled you close to him though, catching you off guard, which worked in his favor, making it much easier to push you into the fog.

“Nothing.”

♥♥♥♥♥

Jungwoo watched as your eyes glazed over, wanting to say something but he could already feel Lucas in his head, ready to put him under if he tried anything. So he didn’t, just followed them all out.

“You shouldn’t worry about your friends.” Ten said. “In this world, it’s really all about looking out for yourself. And there’s always a chance some of them are like you.”

“Although very unlikely.” YangYang added. “You’re safe though.”

“Thanks… I guess.”

For the most part Woo watched you, sorta swaying about in your steps, giggling and smiling whenever Sicheng looked at you. He understood why he was being dragged along, he had information, he was their ticket inside, he was the one who was putting the rest of the people he knew in danger, and yet you were there too. Sicheng so protective and firm about having you, it made him question everything, but most of all wonder, wonder if maybe these machines had emotions or whatever the equivalent was in binary.

♥♥♥♥♥

You slowly returned to your senses while you were walking, out in the open, next to Sicheng. He smiled at you, but you didn’t say anything. You looked over to see Jungwoo, he gave you a small smile, which was all you needed to know that it was him. Still, you stuck with Sicheng, not remembering leaving the house or much after eating, but knowing something bad had happened.

You eventually noticed a sort of tingle in your head. Kinda like a small headache, with no pain at all. You knew it was Sicheng, for the first time being able to feel him in your mind, not trying to make you forget, or push you into the fog, just there, probably looking through your memories. It was quiet all around, but Sicheng eventually chuckled, which is something you thought they couldn’t do.

“What?” You asked shyly. “Did one of my memories make you laugh?”

“Yeah. What this guy told you about us. A good deduction, I’ll admit that, but still wrong.”

“How?”

“Another time.”

You glanced at Woo again, wondering what that meant, but there was no point wondering anymore. It sucked to walk in silence, and Sicheng eventually noticed, doing what he did when he first had you. Just pulling up some old memories for you, make you happy and keep you distracted. Although you got scared when a drone suddenly dropped down from the sky in front of you. For some reason you hid behind Sicheng, looking over.

“Easy. You’re not going to get hurt.”

Kun walked over to the drone, apparently it had a name, Mason, that was bringing a report from home. They should have been back but were way off course and needed to report why. Mason didn’t stick around much, getting what it needed fairly quickly and going back up again. It wasn’t long after that before you reached the rendevu point.

The place was bigger than you thought, and well stocked, kinda like a bunker. Some of them went off to scout the place, make sure it was empty, and safe, you really hoped it was empty. Sicheng picked out a room for you to have as your own, since now it was a waiting game. You sat down in bed when you suddenly felt him in your head again.

“What are you doing?”

“Just checking your vitals. You seem to be back to normal, but I want to make sure you don’t get sick again.”

Eventually the boys all went off to have a private little meeting, no humans allowed, and you found Jungwoo in a little living room type area, taking a seat next to him.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I promised I’d get you here… just you and me.”

“That’s not your fault, it-”

“Don’t say it’s yours. I’ll never believe you.”

“Fine… so what happens next?”

“They wait for the rest of the group to get here… take them out, if they’re not compatible.”

“What! They can’t!”

“They already talked about this… Sicheng made you forget.”

“Of course he did… I honestly wonder how much of my life is missing these days…”

“I’m sorry. I should have done better.”

“You forget we were up against machines. They took out so many of us within the first 24 hours of their attack. I’m always on the positive side… but I’ve always known we were never gonna beat them. At this point I just want to know why.”

“Why what?”

“Why are they doing this? This planet… why do they want it? And also why they aren’t… committing genocide anymore. Surely they could have released some bioweapon to kill us all by now, but they haven’t. They’re personally hunting us down, seeing who’s compatible, but for what? What happens when they take us home?”

“No idea…”

“There you are.” Lucas came into the room. “Let’s get you up to speed with the plan.”

“Plan? What do-”

Lucas’s eyes glowed and Woo quickly fell silent. They always had the advantage when you were distracted, and this time around you saw Woo’s eyes glaze over. You wanted to say something but then Sicheng came in and grabbed your arm, taking you back to your room.

“You should get some sleep.”

“What are we to you? Some pawns? Expendable?”

“Worthy.”

You saw his eyes glow before he kissed your head, laying you down to sleep. You didn’t know the plan, you didn’t know what was going to happen with Woo and the others, but all you did know was that things were going to be different when you woke up, and you were right.

♥♥♥♥♥

“Hi there.”

You opened your eyes to see Sicheng petting your head. He always gave you that sincere smile, and sometimes you forgot he wasn’t human. You sat up, feeling well rested, having had a good nights sleep, which you always did when you were with him.

“Come on. Let’s get you some breakfast before we go.”

“Go? Where are we going?”

“To that safe haven.”

“You’re… you’re coming with?”

“Of course. Can’t let you go in alone now can we, I need to keep you safe.”

“You’re going into the safe haven… where there’s hundreds of humans… you’re going to go in there… and pretend to be… one of us?”

“I’ve always been one of you, just better.”


	6. Chapter 6

It was just you and Jungwoo at the breakfast table. The air was so cold and depressing between the two of you. The silence was killing you, but you were also nervous about going to that safe haven, everyone there was now in danger.

“What… what happened?”

Jungwoo just shook his head, and you could only imagine the worse. Given that it was still just the two of you, no one else was compatible, so no one else survived. Eventually the others came to the room, talking about their plan. 

“Jungwoo needs to cooperate with us.” YangYang said. “And y/n needs to behave.”

“I’m well aware of that.” Sicheng assured.

“But how are you going to do it?” Ten asked. “Not like she’s gonna behave on her own.”

You always hated when they talked about you as if you weren’t in the room. It also terrified you, wondering exactly what Sicheng was going to do to get you to behave. Even you understood that to go there was dangerous on their part, and you were determined to find a way to get your freedom. 

Of course your uneasiness didn’t go unnoticed, Woo reaching over and grabbing your hand, reminding you that you were in this together. That kind gesture didn’t stay secret though. Sicheng saw Woo take your hand and stormed over, grabbing you and pulling you away. He glared at Woo. You wanted to say something but you didn’t want to make things worse.

“Lucas, can you take care of your charge already. The sooner he’s-”

“What about your girlfriend? She’s more of a loose end in all this. So what are you going to do with her?”

“Don’t worry, I have an idea.”

“Which is?”

Sicheng pulled over a chair and sat you down, grabbing another and sitting in front of you, very close. You swallowed nervously, scared, holding back tears. He didn’t seem hostile, just a soft smile on his face, trying to assure you that everything was going to be alright.

“Human memory is fragile, and not reliable, but it can have a deep impact.”

“What… what are you going to do…”

“You’ll be just fine.”

“Siche-”

Your words got cut short when his eyes glowed and you suddenly felt a pain in your head. You tried not to react, doing the stupid thing of fighting, much more terrified of what he had planned for you.

“Y/n… don’t be stupid.”

“Please…”

“Y/n!”

He got up and grabbed your head. He gradually started pushing harder, and the tears began to flow. You couldn’t hold out much longer and you screamed, slamming your eyes shut. You squirmed in your chair, unconsciously trying to get out of his grasp. A bunch of different images flashed before your eyes and all you felt was fear. When he finally let go you fell against him, hugging him tight, sobbing.

“There, there.” Sicheng pet your head. “You’re just fine now.”

“What did you do!” Jungwoo stood. “What the hell did you do to her!”

You sobbed harder and tightened your hug, Woo’s screaming scaring you. Sicheng was a little surprised by how close you were sticking to him, he knew what the expected outcome of his changes were, although he did not expect this intense of a result.

“Come on y/n, let’s go finish packing.” 

Sicheng tried to get you to loosen your grip but you wouldn't budge. He sighed, having to forcefully calm you down. You grew drowsy, Sicheng helping you get to your feet and back to your room. You heard some more commotion behind you but it didn’t register. He laid you down in bed, giving you some control back so the new memories could set in properly.

There wasn’t too much to pack but the problem for them would be hiding or explaining away what they did have, and also making room for food. After all they were a group of eight minus Jungwoo, so it had to be believable. When he finished with your things he knew he had to complete his.

“I’ll be back in-”

He couldn’t even finish his words before you scrambled out of bed and ran over to him. You grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly.

“Y/n I-” You wouldn’t let go of his hand. “Okay, okay, come on then.”

He grabbed your bag and led you over to his room. It was mostly untouched, a few things out of his bag. You sat down on the bed, backpack on, waiting. You were still nervous about going to the safe haven. There were going to be so many people and that alone made you anxious. A number of things could go wrong, and what if none of the guys got along well with humans. Of course it looked like they did with you, but if things weren’t going their way they could easily make you and Woo bend the knee. Things were going to be different in there, and you wondered what was going to happen in the long run, or what even was their plan.

“Let’s go, the others will be waiting.”

Sicheng held his hand out for you to take, leading you back to the main entrance. It seemed everyone was packed and ready to go. You noticed Jungwoo was quiet, at the moment he didn’t seem all there, as if he was on standby, but once Lucas called him he seemed normal. It was strange, especially since neither of you wore a chip, but you didn’t really feel much for him, a part of you hated him for giving the others access to a safe haven. 

You didn’t want to go, you felt safer in small numbers, safer with Sicheng, even if he was a robot, and on the move, not trapped underground somewhere. He talked about taking you home sometimes, about taking you somewhere actually safe, by his standards anyway. If you had kept on the move you might have been there by now, where his home was. Although you still didn’t know what awaited you there. This safe haven was just a detour, so there was no escape from that fate, at least not yet.

The trip from the bunker wasn’t long, a few hours at best with only one stop. You came to this abandoned town, it looked a lot more run down than others, so it was probably abandoned way before the war. It was a good hiding spot for a hidden safe haven, no one would think to look around, or that staying was safe so they would just move on, none the wiser. Not even the bots, and Kun agreed on that too.

Jungwoo led the group into one of the buildings, going to the back where there was a storage area. He asked for some help moving floorboards, revealing an underground cellar. When you got down it seemed like a dead end but it seemed like a bunch of wood planks could be moved like a makeshift door to reveal a proper one.

“That’s pretty well hidden.” Kun said. “And impressive too.”

“As you know we have multiple entrances and exits, this is just the easiest to access.”

Behind the door, despite the mess, it seemed to be very clean, and it revealed a stone stairwell going down. Woo was the first to go. The stairs were dimly lit and eventually came to a steel door. He knocked a certain way before a small opening in the door revealed a pair of eyes and asked for a code. With a heavy heart Jungwoo repeated it, the whole phrase, and even the floating eyes seemed hurt. Regardless though it was correct and the door opened.

You came into this big, round, room, with three tunnels, and you weren’t alone. A few others were around, armed, which made sense, only Jungwoo was familiar to them, the rest of you were strangers. Woo received a hug from the man at the door, grateful for his return, and sad as well that he was the only one. Everyone else was just weary of those he brought along, and you stuck very close to Sicheng as well, scared, and jumping when the door shut behind you. There was no going back now.

“Yo, newbies.” A woman called. “Follow me for processing. Leave all your things here.”

You all did as you were told, putting your bags down and taking things out of your pockets. You followed her into one of the tunnels, coming to another room with some medical equipment and computers. Others patted you all down to make sure you weren’t carrying any concealed weapons. Then came a fun little test that you didn’t know about, which also had another important function.

You sat down in front of this person with a laptop. She told you that they kept records of all the people in their place. She was going to ask you some questions, but first off they would need to draw some blood. You jumped up when you saw the needle, starting to panic. Your sudden outburst put all the others on high alert and their guns were raised. It made things worse and you started sobbing. You were about to run to wherever Sicheng was but he came to you first and pulled you close. He kept an arm around you and held the other up, asking them to calm down.

“Please, please lower your weapons, she’s just scared.”

“We haven’t done anything.”

“I understand that. Please lower your guns. She had a bad experience out there, and not because of the robots. I’ll explain everything just please, please lower your weapons. She’s harmless.”

Those words made them all a bit hesitant, and understanding, so they lowered their guns although tension remained. Sicheng slowly approached the table you had been at. He sat down and had you in his lap, wiping away some tears.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, I told you I would get you somewhere safe remember. These people are just being careful. I’ll go first if that’s what you’re worried about okay. Nothing bad is gonna happen.”

Sicheng kept one of your hands in his, letting them draw blood from his other arm. He identified himself to the lady, and then had you sit for your turn. He had you keep your eyes on him so you wouldn’t have to see the needle, letting you squeeze his hand for the pain. When you were asked to identify yourself you mumbled a bit, but Sicheng translated for you.

After all that, you got to truly enter the safe haven. It was an underground community, from where you were you could see quite a lot. A much friendlier person came to greet you all, offering you a tour of the place. It had been a long time since they got any new faces, so it was rather exciting for everyone. You were shown how the place operates, the underground farms they had, water supplies, and a brief explanation of how it all worked too. They had a medical place, their kitchen and dining area, a place for intel, and the rooms. There was so much else there too, to keep busy and live, as well as people of all ages.

“For now you’ll be placed in a room where you can set down your sleeping accommodations. Once our counsel here speaks with you all individually, and our doctors make sure you are healthy, you can choose to be moved into rooms of two or four.”

“Thank you very much.” Kun bowed. “You are very generous.”

“No problem. Someone will be by to take you to your interviews. Medical examinations will be done tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

Sicheng had you sit down while he laid out your sleeping bag. You hadn’t been listening on the tour, more focused on what had happened when you entered. Even with your memories changed, even though you were scared and wanted Sicheng close, that didn’t change what you knew about them. It didn’t change the fact that you knew they weren’t human, and yet they passed. Jungwoo had told you before robots don’t bleed, but they did, so you weren’t sure what to believe anymore.

♥♥♥♥♥

“What happened out there?” 

Jungwoo stood among the counsel for a debrief. It was usually someone else, he wasn’t that high up in the ranks, but he was the only one left.

“We were approaching our previous location from the last scout when we discovered some heat signatures. We diverted in course to investigate and found a group of eight, those that came with me today.”

“We understand the rules of helping, and bringing them back here safely, but what happened? Did you reach your destination.”

“No. While we were getting acquainted we came under attack. I suppose our numbers must have drawn attention, so we split into groups of three, all those who were found stuck with the group I was in. On our journey back we all kept in contact, everything seemed fine but… it was a total ambush. They must have calculated our trajectory and planned… we had to lay low, so as to not lead them to the bunker… or here… the others in my group were injured… I’m sorry…”

“What is there to be sorry for. At least you made it back so we can know what happened. Now what about those you brought along. None are injured?”

“They weren’t as experienced as us so we did our best to protect them, and the girl with them was rather ill. She wasn’t so keen on coming here either. We all know the danger of going out, we wanted to get them all back here, at whatever the cost.”

“I’m sorry you had to be the only one here. Given the circumstances, your position as a scout is temporarily suspended.”

“What? Are you blaming-”

“No. Not at all, but even if you can’t see it now you surely understand the stress and tragedy that just unfolded before you. It’s best for you to be here than to go out there and be reckless. That’s final.”

“Yes.”

“Get some rest Jungwoo.”

♥♥♥♥♥

Kun volunteered to be the first interviewed, and you couldn’t help but be nervous. Sicheng noticed and pulled you into his arms telling you not to worry. You knew he did something to you, messed with your head somehow but you didn’t know what. You also didn’t know how you could still somewhat feel his presence in your mind even without a chip, the same probably went for Woo. Still, you leaned against him, not really wanting to be there, but you didn’t get a choice.

When Kun returned, Sicheng asked to go next. He told you that he would take care of things so you wouldn’t have to be so scared. You really didn’t want him to go, but you knew he had to. He helped you calm down a bit before doing so, putting you in a memory from before to keep you distracted. He wouldn’t be gone long, and as he left he glared at the others, telling them not to bother you.

“Dong Sicheng?”

“Yes.”

“It says here you were a university student when the war started.”

“Yes, me and my friends. We met there and… we left together.”

“How have you managed to survive?”

“Dumb luck I’d say. We were in a foreign country when this all started, and despite everything we just wanted to go home. Along the way we had to learn how to survive, and we did.”

“How did you return here? From what we’re told, you were across the ocean.”

“Someone we met… YangYang can tell you more, but they were a pilot, and agreed to fly us.”

“And where are they now?”

“Sir… this is not my story to tell… I wish I knew how I survived given I had no real skills when this all started. I adapted, as did those around me, as did all of you. My group was fortunate enough to find Jungwoo and his people, they help get y/n back to health and for that I am eternally grateful.”

“How did you come across her? She was not part of your original group was she?”

“No… as I’m sure you’ve been told, upon arrival she was very frightened. I understand your need to speak with all of us but I ask that you excuse her or at least allow me to be present.”

“And why is that?”

“From what I know, she traveled alone for a while before she found a group. They were on their way to a safe place, I don’t know if it was this one, but she joined them, even though she was ill. She kept her distance and they were… decent people, but one day things went wrong.”

“They were attacked?”

“Yes, but it’s not what you think. One of the group members went mad and started killing everyone else, she was the last one left. My group stumbled upon the scene and I took out the killer… but the damage was done and she was terrified. She doesn’t tend to like anyone who isn’t me or my group. She doesn’t actually want to be here.”

“How come?”

“The number of people for starters, but I want her to be safe, truly safe. We’ll all need to do our part to stay I presume, something with minor human interaction would be best for her. At least until she adjusts, if I may be so bold as to ask.”

“It’ll be considered.”

♥♥♥♥♥

“I told you not to bother her!”

Sicheng returned to find you asleep atop your sleeping bag. He glared at the others knowing it was their doing and not his.

“Her vitals were spiking and she wanted you back.” Hendery explained. “You took longer than we thought so I just put her to sleep for a bit.”

“Vitals? Is she okay.”

“She just got a bit panicked all of a sudden.” Kun said. “Which means you lost focus on her. What happened?”

“We’re surrounded by humans, gotta show some emotion to get by.”

“And here I thought you cared about your girlfriend.” Ten snickered.

“She’s not-”

“Sicheng, it’s not even a joke anymore.” YangYang said. “There’s nothing wrong with caring for her, and I’m sure everyone here can relate now, since you know, emotions are on. So the next person being a tease will get it when we go home.”

“How long are we staying here anyway?” Xiaojun asked. “I already hate it.”

“You can do the math can’t you?”

“Actually I can’t. We need Lucas’ puppet to give us access to the database so we know how many people are actually here, and we also needed to have an updated layout of this place in order to create a proper invasion plan.”

“Fair point. So when Lucas gets back we can get a status update.”

Even when you were sleeping you knew when Sicheng was close, when you were in his arms, so you snuggled against him. Although you had a bit of trouble staying asleep. They obviously weren’t talking aloud about such things just making faces at each other and communicating with their own version of telepathy. It was like a soft hum of static in your head, and it made you somewhat uncomfortable.

You eventually woke up and grabbed your head, still sleepy. They all seemed shocked for a second before Sicheng pulled your focus towards him. His eyes glowed and eventually the hum disappeared. You leaned against him, wanting to go back to sleep but he made you stay up. He wasn’t sure if you were going to be interviewed or not so he didn’t want to drag if you had to go. So instead you just munched on a granola bar and waited, seeing some of their facial expressions.

They all went for their interview, and you expected to be the last to go, but you had been excused. It wouldn’t take a genius to know Sicheng must have said something, and you were a bit grateful for it. He tucked you into your sleeping bag, the boys all going to bed as well but you knew that even if their eyes were closed they weren’t sleeping. In the morning the same person from before took you to the infirmary where a doctor would do your check up.

“Hello, nice to meet you, my name is Johnny, and you?”

“Y/n.” Sicheng responded for you. “Her name is y/n.”

“Ah, yes, I heard about you, quiet little thing. Well I assure you we are all nice and friendly, and you’ll soon grow to like it here.”

He went through a usual check up with everyone, doing a bit more for you given that Jungwoo had reported you had actually been sick when you first crossed paths. You all checked out okay and by whatever methods, the counsel approved of your stay. You wondered how bad it would be if you’d been kicked out, but no point dwelling on that. Since you would be staying you moved into rooms. Sicheng didn’t want to share with anyone but you, and they all ultimately agreed to go into rooms of two.

Even though the others would be allowed to try different things and see what fits, you were asked to help in the kitchen. Seemed cliche but it would mean you’d have to deal with less people so you’d take it. You’d mostly washed dishes and help a bit with meal prep, overall you had no reason to step out into the mess hall and eat with everyone else. You became somewhat friendly with some of those around you but not too much. Even if you didn’t want to talk you knew it was partly Sicheng’s doing to be in a mute state, and also why you couldn’t tell anyone the truth about them no matter how badly you wanted to.

Although you didn’t care to be there, everyday that went by made you more nervous. The boys seemed to be adjusting well and getting along with everyone they met. Sicheng was always with you when he had the chance, especially since you preferred eating the kitchen. It still weirded you out to see him eating human food despite everything, and actually enjoying it. All you really wanted to know was how he was passing as human, how they all were.

“You’re actually a pretty good cook. I’m impressed.”

“Thanks…”

“How do you like it here?”

“I don’t…”

“It hasn’t been a week yet, just keep an open mind okay.”

“Why… why are you doing this?”

He knew what you were really asking about but you weren’t completely alone, and he wasn’t actually going to answer you anyway.

“Cause I want you safe, no matter what.”

At night, or what was deemed night, you rushed to your room, not wanting to interact with anyone for longer than you had to. You didn’t know if that was you or Sicheng, either way you just wanted to be away from people. You’d go to your room to get some clothes and then go shower. For the most part you’d go to sleep alone and wake up the same way. You weren’t sure if Sicheng ever came to the room. Since you weren’t expecting him you were surprised to find him sitting in bed when you returned from your shower.

“What are you doing here?”

“This is my room too.”

“Yeah but you don’t… sleep.”

“Am I not allowed in here?”

“I… what do you want?”

“So rude, I thought you liked me, after all I-”

“I know… but you’re busy with whatever takeover plan you have here and-”

“You’ve been thinking too much lately.”

“I… you’re gonna kill people…”

“As if you’re friends with anyone here. Don’t concern yourself. We’ll be done here soon enough and then we can go home.”

“You-”

“Sh, just go to bed.”

You lost your voice and he tucked you into bed for the night. You didn’t bring up the subject again, not sure how much you could get away with before he actually got upset. It sucked though, being around so many people and not wanting to talk, it isolated you a lot, but what were you going to do, no one even bothered saying anything but hello when they saw you. You weren’t tired that night, and figured you could walk around, since no one would be around. That way you could really enjoy the place, and hopefully Sicheng wouldn’t get mad. You didn’t expect to see anyone out so late, but you weren’t the only one up.

“Y/n!”

You heard your name called, but you didn’t recognize the voice. You turned around to see someone running towards you. It freaked you out, but you were too scared to move. When they reached you they grabbed your shoulders, out of breathe, looking you over, a smile on their lips.

“It really is you!”

“I-”

He hugged you tight, and you could hear him sniffling. You were confused, trying to figure out who this was. You pulled them away from you, watching them wipe away their tears and then it clicked for you.

“Haechan?”

“Yeah! Yeah it’s me!”

You felt the tears on your face, pulling him into another hug. You could not believe how lucky you were to have actually reunited with a friend. You were happy beyond words, and then he did something you never expected. Haechan pulled away just a bit, just enough so he could kiss you. Your eyes went wide, but you didn’t pull away.

“I never told you how I felt… and I thought I’d never get the chance… it’s a-”

“Haechan…”

“Hm?”

“Help…”

You collapsed into Haechan’s arms, passed out. You had felt it coming, a sudden feeling in your head. Your heart was racing, and you should have been in bed, he probably knew you weren’t. It must have been pretty unexpected for him, and for a moment you felt you were in complete control. You could only hope Haechan wouldn’t believe whatever he was told and figure out what you really meant.


	7. Chapter 7

“What happened!”

Sicheng entered the medbay after being informed you ended up there last night. Of course he knew, he was the one who caused the incident, but he had to admit he was curious what the humans would come up with. Although before he could get his answer he glared at the boy sitting by your bed.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Her friend.” Haechan got up. “Any you?”

“Y/n, doesn’t have any friends.”

“I knew her before the war.”

“Sure you did.” Sicheng focused on Johnny. “What happened?”

“She fainted.” Haechan answered. “You never said who you were or how you know y/n?”

“None of your business.”

“It is my business. If you were with her out there then she could be hurt cause of you!”

“Enough!” Johnny shouted. “Both of you calm down alright. Y/n’s fine, but she probably fainted from seeing you, Haechan.”

“What?”

“She hasn’t had the best time out there in the wasteland that was Earth.”

“What does that mean?”

“She-”

“Johnny.” Sicheng hissed. “I appreciate it if you don’t blab about her situation. If she wants to tell him she can, later.”

“Right. I just mean seeing a familiar face, she probably didn’t expect to see an old friend again, and the emotions probably overwhelmed her and cause her to faint. Like I said, she’s fine, and she should be waking up soon.”

_ “I agree.” _

Kun had been listening in to the conversation from the start, also knowing what Sicheng had done last night.

_ “No.” _

_ “Sicheng, I will wake her up myself.” _

_ “I said no.” _

_ “The longer she’s under, the more suspicious they’ll get.” _

_ “Fine, fine whatever.” _

Sicheng gently pet your head, you were peaceful, and at least you got enough sleep too. He leaned down and kissed your head, stepping back. He couldn’t see but behind him Haechan was glaring. A moment later you groaned and slowly opened your eyes. You looked around, taking in your surroundings and recognizing the medbay.

“What happened…”

“I don’t know.” Sicheng laughed. “You tell us.”

“I… I don’t remember…”

“What do you remember?” Johnny asked. “The last thing?”

“I went to bed… at least I thought I went to bed…”

“Okay, well, I needed to run some tests anyway.”

“Alright…” You looked at Sicheng, worried. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah, you’ll be fine y/n.” He kissed your head. “I have to get going, so just take it easy today.”

“I’ll stay then.” Haechan volunteered. “For support.”

“Yeah, no.” Johnny said. “Both of you leave. I do take doctor patient confidentiality seriously, so out.”

♥♥♥♥♥

Haechan and Sicheng already didn’t seem to like each other, but that was a problem for another time. Later on Haechan returned to the infirmary, but you were already gone. Nothing bad had come up from the tests, so there wasn’t anything to worry about.

“Can I ask…” Haechan mumbled. “What happened… to her…”

“I suppose I can tell you since I doubt she’d want to speak of it.”

Johnny told Haechan about the incident you had been through, how you didn’t really trust people anymore, except for maybe Sicheng and his group. Knowing that, it would make more sense why you passed out, Haechan wasn’t just people, but an old friend, so those two memories would most likely clash.

“I guess that makes sense but…”

“But what?”

“Look… we need to keep this a secret, just between us.”

“Okay? What is it?”

“Last night, while I was talking with y/n, before she passed out, she told me to help her.”

“And?”

“Then she passed out.”

“I don’t get it.”

“She was trying to tell me something.”

“Or maybe she knew she was going to faint and asked you for help so she didn’t hit the ground.”

“I don’t know though, it was very weird… and she doesn’t remember what happened.”

“It might come back to her or not, she seems fine either way.”

“Stil…”

“Well she works in the kitchen, all the way in the back, if you’re curious.”

“Really? Thanks, hyung.”

“Whatever, but hey, I know you guys knew each other before, but you can’t forget the world has changed, she has, and so have you. Take things slow.”

“Yeah… yeah I got it.”

♥♥♥♥♥

At lunch time Haechan made his way into the kitchen, looking around for you. It wasn’t that hard to find you given how isolated and quiet you were. He manages to convince you to join him for lunch, out in the cafeteria. You certainly were nervous but at least you were with Haechan, someone you knew, so you felt like you’d be okay.

Of course the issue was that people knew Haechan so they would greet him, and some probably would have sat down if not for some look they were given. Besides eating you guys used the time to catch up. You didn’t want to talk about your situation, and he knew it, so he mostly just told you how he ended up there, and what he did, he worked on the farms.

“Ah, so you provided all the vegetables.”

“I help with that, yeah.”

“I’m glad… I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Me too.”

You wanted to take things slow, but at the same time you didn’t want to be close to him. Things weren’t going to end well, and you didn’t know if you could handle it. If you could tell Haechan the truth you would, but no matter how bad you wanted to, you knew you couldn’t. After a shower you were ready for bed, but Sicheng was waiting for you. Before you could say anything he grabbed your head and started looking through your memories from last time. He could have done it before, but it was easier to do when you were much closer.

Of course the memory of that kiss came up, and you weren’t expecting Sicheng to take it well. When his eyes opened they kept that blue glow, and for once it was menacing. Worst of all he didn’t just see the kiss, he knew how you felt about it, and that little call for help. He was upset, angry, something you didn’t know he’d ever feel. You couldn’t help but start tearing up, afraid of what was going to happen next.

“So that’s why your heart beat suddenly rose? You kissed him?”

“I-”

“Did you like it? Do you like him? You don’t have to answer that cause I know.”

“Please… please don’t kill him…”

“That’s not up to either of us.”

“Sicheng-”

“Shut up. No more late night walks. You’re causing unnecessary trouble, and seeing him is messing with your head.”

“But I-”

“Have you forgotten what happened to you out there? Who saved you? Humans can’t be trusted, you just turn on each other and hurt on another. We’re trying to help your kind, and all I need you to do right now is lay low and behave.”

“Not like I have a choice…”

“What was that?”

“Nothing…”

“I’m just doing what’s best for you, all of you. Trust me, and behave.”

“I don’t want him to die… Sicheng, ple-”

You passed out in his arms, having been put to sleep. Sicheng sighed, his eyes finally losing their glow, and put you into bed. He sat on the edge, annoyed with himself as well for these feelings of jealousy. If anything, he was the one causing unnecessary trouble.

_ “I don’t get it.” Hendery said. “I thought the memory change would make it so she wouldn’t trust any humans.” _

_ “Yeah, but she knew Haechan before that.” Ten said. “Those feelings of mistrust wouldn’t really apply to him given their past.” _

_ “Guess Sicheng didn’t think of that.” _

_ “The likeliness of someone from y/n’s past being here was very low.” Xiaojun added. “Although still very possible. So, what are you gonna do?” _

_ “Don’t worry about it. I’ll deal with it.” _

Sicheng sighed and laid down, putting a chip on your head and pulling you into his arms. As much as he wanted to avoid the subject he needed to know more. While you slept he took the time to look through your memories of Haechan, see who he was and what he meant to you. He hated it, seeing how happy he made you, the history between you two. He wanted his chance as well, but he was on mission right now, so he couldn’t do that, although he could do something else for his own benefit.

You started squirming in Sicheng’s arms, whimpering and wanting to wake up, but couldn’t. Sicheng had brought up his fabricated memories of the massacre you witnessed, and kept you under, in a way forcing you to relive it. You were sobbing in his arms, and even if you weren’t awake, you felt better being so close to him. He knew that of course, and it was the point, should keep you away from Haechan for a while.

♥♥♥♥♥

In the morning you seemed pretty shaken up, quiet and reserved. You didn’t want to leave the room, the memories of that day fresh in your mind. Of course that wasn’t really an option, you had to earn your keep there.

“Bad dream?”

“Something like that…”

“Maybe you should stay in today.”

“I can’t… I’m fine…”

“You sure?”

“Yeah… yeah I’ll be fine.”

“Okay then.”

Sicheng got you on your feet, seeing how sad you were. He regretted his actions a bit but it was necessary. He watched you for a bit then slowly leaned over to kiss you. It caught you off guard a bit, given how soft and slow he was being. You kissed back, wondering what his lips taste like. He wasn’t cold, in fact he felt human, he felt real, but you knew he wasn’t. In the moment though you could pretend a bit. He pulled away, looking at you, seeing how you had closed your eyes. You looked at him, not sure what to say. He seemed content with your reaction, brushing some hair behind your ear.

“Take it easy today okay.”

“Yeah.”

♥♥♥♥♥

Knowing you were around added something more to Haechan’s everyday life. When he had free time during the day he’d like to go find you, although things didn’t always go his way. He went to the back, hoping to share a meal with you again.

“Um… no thanks… maybe some other time.”

“Oh, are you alright?”

“Fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah… just… bad dream. I’d like to be left alone.”

“Ah… yeah, yeah sure…”

It was weird, but at least Haechan could understand your situation a bit. He wanted to help you feel better, thinking maybe if he could get some sweets from the vault might help. Of course he had to beg Mark for access since things like sweets were rare and mostly for kids. Although as he made his way to the kitchen when he knew it was the end of your shift he froze.

He could see you in Sicheng’s arms, dry tears on your face. It made sense, as much as he would want to comfort you, Sicheng was the hero of that nightmare. He had to admit he was weary of that guy, or maybe his suspicions was just jealousy, either way he should look into it. Since he wasn’t going to be seeing you for the rest of the day he went to his usual hangout place.

“You know, you’re here so often, you might as well apply to transfer to the medbay.” Johnny said. “I could use an assistant.”

“You think they’d let me?”

“Sure, especially if I ask.”

“What is there to do here anyway?”

“Organize, keep record of medicine expiration, do check ups on residents. Basic stuff, I could teach you.”

“I’ll consider it, although can I ask you for a favor?”

“What’s up.”

“Y/n had a nightmare. She was pretty distant today, you think you can check in on her.”

“A nightmare?”

“Yeah, probably about what happened.”

“Ah, gotcha. I’ll check up on her then. See if you were my assistant I could have you do that.”

“I’ll consider switching jobs then.”

“Not a bad idea, promise.”

♥♥♥♥♥

Johnny and Haechan had come into the safe haven together, so they were pretty close. So when his friend asked him to check in on you over a nightmare he would keep his word. Before the usual curfew time came to pass Johnny went over to your room. He knocked, opening the door and peeking in a bit after not getting an answer. He saw your figure in bed and let himself in, going over. He knew you shared a room with Sicheng, but for the most part that boy stayed up pretty late on the daily.

“Hey, y/n.” He whispered. “Y/n…”

As he approached he could see that you were sleeping, laying on your side. At least you weren’t tossing around so it wasn’t a bad dream, yet. He reached over and shaked you but got no response. He tried again, this time rolling you on your back and jumping back, hand over his mouth. Now that he could see your face he could see the chip on your head, and he knew what that meant.

He was panicking to say the least, and he knew he had to leave. You rolled back on your side, making it so no one coming in would notice it. Johnny quietly rushed out of the room, carefully shutting the door behind him.

“What are you doing?”

Sicheng’s sudden voice and appearance startled Johnny, but he quickly composed himself. He forced a smile to his face, since he was your roommate, he was very suspicious.

“You scared me there.” Johnny laughed. “I was just coming to check on y/n, make sure she’s okay. I thought she might still be awake but I could see she was sleeping and backed out. I promise I didn’t creep in there. Can you tell her to come by to see me tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll let her know.”

“Thanks. See you around.”

Sicheng watched him leave, thinking it was a bit strange to see him, but doctors do make house calls so he shrugged it off. He went into the room, seeing that you were still asleep exactly how he left you. If everything kept going to plan, this would all be over soon enough.


	8. Chapter 8

You woke up in Sicheng arms. It was always a bit surprising to you that he felt so warm, almost like he was human. The fact that he’d also lay down with you and close his eyes, imitating sleep, was also a bit weird. He seemed rather peaceful too. You tried getting out of bed, but his grip on you tightened a bit.

“No, not yet.”

“What?”

“Sh.”

A light dizzy spell hit you and you laid your head back down on the pillow. You could see Sicheng’s glowing blue eyes through your hazy vision. He reached over and moved a strand of hair out of your face, just watching you.

“Johnny came by last night… wanted to check up on you, but you were asleep.”

“Hm…”

“So, he said you should stop by the medbay in the morning.”

“Okay…”

A few more minutes passed before you were finally allowed to get up. Sicheng kissed your head and took the chip off, letting you gain back your senses. You got out of bed and prepared for the day. Johnny had already mentioned your check up to others so you wouldn’t be expected for a while in the kitchen. Sicheng also made it clear he wasn’t happy about the morning visit, but you had to go alone. When you got to the medbay Johnny greeted you.

“Hey, good morning.”

“You wanted to see me?”

“Yeah. Haechan told me you weren’t doing so well yesterday, asked me if I could check up on you.”

“Oh… I’m fine…”

“That’s good to hear, but while you’re here anyway, do you mind if I run some tests?”

“Um… I guess so.”

“Cool. Have a seat.”

You sat down on one of those beds you’d find in a check up room. Johnny went through the procedural stuff, heart rate and blood pressure, then said he wanted to run some others, like blood tests and x-ray scans. 

“You know, I’m the doctor around these places, every type too. Well I like to think so. If you want to talk to someone, I’m all ears.”

“Thanks…”

“Now, I do have a question for you, have you been sleeping okay?”

“Um… sometimes…”

“And the other times?”

“Nightmares.”

“About?”

“The usual… what happened that day…”

“Ah, yes, sorry to hear about that. Is it why you have a mistrust of people.”

“What?”

“Sorry, you just seem very… shy around people. I don’t mean to pry, we can end the conversation here.”

“No you’re fine… I just didn’t think another person would kill me…”

“They didn’t, you lived.”

“Yeah… Sicheng came and… saved me.”

“That’s when he found you right? Him and his group?”

“Yes.”

“How are you with them? Friends?”

“I’d say so. I’m alive thanks to them, and they’re very smart.”

“Yeah, bunch of tough guys.”

The door to the medbay opened and you both looked over, seeing Haechan walk in. He immediately smiled when he saw you, rushing over.

“Y/n!”

“Hi, Haechan, what are you doing here?”

“Talked to the council, I’m Johnny’s assistant now.”

“Oh, cool.”

“Yup, you should come by and visit me often.”

“Will do.” You smiled. “Do you have any more tests or should I go now?”

“Um…” Johnny looked at some files. “Yeah, we’re good. I’ll call you if the results are weird.”

“Okay, thanks. I’ll see you two around.”

You said your goodbyes and made your exit, going to work. Once you were gone Johnny pulled Haechan close. 

“What?”

“So I went to go see y/n last night…”

“And?”

“Um… she was asleep… I thought I could wake her but that’s when I saw it…”

“Saw what?”

“There was a chip on her head.”

“A chip… you mean… those mind control ones… the bots use…”

“Yeah…”

“How is that possible! Those… the people she came with… but-”

“They passed their tests coming in, they’re human.”

“No, no that’s not… then where did that chip come from? You told me y/n hasn’t known them for long… wait… can’t those things mess with memory?”

“I… I don’t know, all we know is that they put the victim in a trance like state and they do whatever they’re told.”

“These things are advance, why wouldn’t they be able to mess with our heads.”

“I… I guess… old theories say it’s possible to plant suggestions and alter behavior when someone is in a trance.”

“We need to tell the council this. Human or not, we can’t trust those guys and y/n-”

“Would be treated like the enemy as well. She’d get locked up and interrogated or whatever else the council would want to do to them. We can’t tell anyone, not yet.”

“Oh shit.”

“What?”

“Jungwoo… he brought them here… could he be… compromised too?”

“I don’t know, we have no way of knowing. Look we don’t know anything, and we can’t tell anyone, not yet.”

“Then when? Those… things have been here for weeks, doing who knows what! And one of those things shares a bed with y/n! We have to-”

“Haechan, we don’t know what the council will do with her or Jungwoo. If they’re compromised they’ll be treated the same. Thrown out or killed or worse, we need to be able to prove that she’s not one of them. Besides right now we don’t have any evidence, I just saw a chip on her head. That little bit of information will just make the council act rash, we need more.”

“Ugh, fine, whatever, but how are we going to get more evidence?”

“I just ran some tests on y/n and drew some blood. Maybe we can find something there.”

“Alright… alright… let’s find something.”

♥♥♥♥♥

Once you had a break in your shift, Sicheng came by to pick you up. He took you to the garden, something you found impressive considering it was underground. There was a special way to get sunlight down there and keep the plants alive, and it was worth it to have such beauty. You find a nice little place to sit down among the flowers, children playing around you. Sicheng pulled you into his arms, resting his chin on your head. As you looked around tears started building up.

“Sicheng…”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want anyone to die here… please…”

“I don’t want anyone to die either, but that only happens if everyone cooperates. My calculations say that is highly unlikely. We’ll try to keep the casualties low, promise.”

You started to feel fuzzy and closed your eyes for a moment, yet when you opened them everything had changed. You pulled away from Sicheng and looked around. You weren’t underground anymore, but outside, sitting on a grassy hilltop with the sun shining down. In the distance you could see some buildings, and what you believe were other people.

“What… where am I? How did I get here? What happened?”

“Easy.” Sicheng pulled you back into his arms. “We didn’t go anywhere, I’m just showing you something.”

“Ha… how?”

“That’s not important. I wanted to show you my home, and I want to bring you here soon.”

What you saw was rather beautiful and peaceful, certainly looked like paradise. Your head got fuzzy again and you closed your eyes. When you opened them you were back in the underground garden. You rubbed your eyes, trying to make sure what you were seeing was real.

“How did you do that without a chip?”

“Hm.” Sicheng just smiled. “I’m just glad it worked.”

♥♥♥♥♥

While you made your way back to work you had a rather prominent smile on your face. He just wanted to take you home, and you couldn’t help but smile over that sentiment.

“Y/n!”

You were pulled from your thoughts when you heard your name, seeing that Haechan had been waiting for you.

“Hey. What are you doing here?”

“Just wanted to check on you. Also ask if you wanted to hang out tonight.”

“Hang out? What is there to do around here.”

“You’d be surprised.”

“Then what are we doing?”

“That’s a secret, but I promise it’ll be worth it.”

“Okay then, tonight.”

“Tonight.”

You didn’t tell Sicheng about your night time gathering, not wanting him to reject it and force you to bed. You met up with Haechan, who had brought Johnny and his friend Mark. With the place being below ground there were a lot of caves, many you hadn’t explored yet, and many that were apparently still being built. You followed them to the garden and into some of the caves. It was a bit dark but then you came to this rather big, round, place.

“Is this it?”

“Look up.” Haechan giggled. “That’s why we’re here.”

You gave him a curious look before doing as he said. You saw a sky full of stars, and it was amazing. You were so excited, bouncing about. Johnny grabbed your hand, pulling you down. The best way to star gaze was while laying down, and he brought a blanket and snacks.

“You know, I hope one day I can look at the sky from the ground.” Mark said. “It’ll be like getting closer to the stars…”

“Very poetic.” You commented. “I’ve never seen the stars like this before.”

“It’s beautiful.”

Despite the beautiful view you felt sleepy. This seemed like a nice place to rest for a moment and you knew the boys would wake you up. As you began to close your eyes you suddenly jumped awake, for a moment not aware of your surroundings and looking frantically around before passing out.

You found yourself far from reality. Your vision was hazy, but as you looked around you knew where you were. Bodies surrounded you, mostly head injuries. You heard a gun cock and immediately ran. You were in a store, it’s where the group had set up camp for the night, there had to be somewhere you could hide. As you ran you could hear the footsteps following you. The fear and panic caused you to trip up and you tumbled to the floor.

You turned back in fear, trying to crawl away, but being at the barrel end of a gun made you freeze. You thought you were gonna die like the rest when your would be killer suddenly dropped dead. You were still in shock but you managed to see a knife sticking out of the guys head, and someone else approaching you. Fear overtook you again and you tried to get away but the other person got to you, pulling you up and into their arms. They held you close while you cried, assuring you that you were safe.

Haechan had you in his arms, trying to shake you out of whatever was happening, but you just stared up blankly at the ceiling. The three boys were panicking, not sure what to do with you. Johnny said you needed to be taken back to the medbay where they could look after you better. Just as they were about to go you screamed and regained your senses. You pushed Haechan away and scrambled to your feet. Disoriented and unsure of where you were or who the boys were.

They tried to calm you down, assuring you they were friends, but it did nothing to help. You saw an opening and made a run for it. The walls were all the same, so you didn’t know if you were actually getting anywhere. While frantically running about you crashed into someone. You screamed at first until you saw who it was and then hugged them tight.

“Make me forget!” You screamed. “Sicheng, please, make me forget that day!”

When Sicheng heard footsteps approaching he held you tight. Haechan and the other two appeared, surprised at his presence but then concerned over you. Well two of them were, Haechan seemed mad, wanting to say something but Johnny held him back.

“Sicheng, funny seeing you here.” 

“I heard screaming, and I know what hers sound like.” You whimpered. “Please be careful around her. And I would prefer you not take up her nights, she needs rest.”

“Y/n can do whatever-”

“We understand.” Johnny cut Haechan off. “Sorry for the trouble, hope she sleeps well.”

“Good night.”

Sicheng pulled you along, taking you back to your room. Johnny kept his grip on Haechan until it was just the three of them again. He sighed in relief, worried that things might not have gone so smoothly.

“How did he get here?” Mark asked.

“Huh?” Haechan said. “What are you talking about?”

“Not many know of these tunnels, and isn’t he new? How did he even come this far to find her?”

Johnny and Haechan shared a look, the suspicious remarks making them both uneasy. Mark of course noticed the look, wondering what it was for.

“What?”


	9. Chapter 9

“You’re so cruel.”

When you got to your room you pushed Sicheng away from you, going to the bed and curling up.

“Me?”

“You can mess with my vision, make me see things that aren’t there, but you can’t mess with my memories.”

“What do you mean?”

“That day… when we met… I try to not… think about it… but then… it sneaks up on me…” Your voice cracked. “Why can’t you make me forget that…”

Sicheng was quite baffled over what it was that was troubling you. Moreso over his own actions in the situation. He messed with your head, changed memories, but he never thought it would have such a negative effect. He sat down next to you in bed, gently petting your head.

“Is that what you want? To forget?”

“Yes… please… if you can do that…”

“Your head’s gonna feel funny tomorrow, memories are more complex.”

“It won’t hurt? Actually, I don’t care… just do it…”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry.”

He leaned down and kissed your head, slowly lulling you to sleep. He wiped away the tears on your face. It was going to take a while to change things again, and he made sure to tell the others not to interrupt him. At least he had all night to get this done.

♥♥♥♥♥

“That’s not possible!”

The trio of Johnny, Mark, and Haechan were gathered in the infirmary early the next morning. Despite the danger they told Mark about the situation, figuring another mind might help them come up with a solution or a way to tell the council that doesn’t put you or Jungwoo in danger.

“It’s absolutely fucken possible.” Johnny countered. “And it explains everything.”

“But… our detectors?”

“Nanobots are microscopic, and they weren’t even on when she came here. They’ve recently been activated and even then not all of them are on.”

“So Jungwoo is probably infected too…”

“Most likely.”

“Okay… so what can these nanobots do?”

“I’m not sure, but they are certainly connected to her. They’re like collecting data. I need to see her to figure out just… what they’re doing.”

“So…” Mark was still processing everything, trying to stay calm. “We tell the council… we have evidence… and we need to get those robots out of here.”

“No, we can’t go to the council.” Haechan said. “Not yet.”

“What do you mean not yet?! We’ve been infiltrated! This whole place is in danger.”

“We’ve been in danger for weeks now. They haven’t don’t anything.”

“But surely we’re running out of time.”

“Mark’s right.” Johnny added. “We need to tell the council… but I want to try something first. I need to see y/n, I need to know if I can even help her before we go to the council.”

“Alright, everyone will be waking up soon. I think I can get to y/n before she goes to work.” Haechan offered. “I’ll have her come see you.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem, and Mark.”

“Yes?”

“You keep your mouth shut.”

“I got it.”

Johnny stayed in the lab while the two left. Mark had to go off to his duties so Haechan went over to your room. He knocked at the door, and felt uneasy when Sicheng answered.

♥♥♥♥♥

“Sicheng…”

You felt a bit dizzy when you woke up, nearly rolling out of bed on accident. Sicheng caught your head, getting you back on the pillow.

“Good morning.”

“Hi… what happened… I feel funny…”

“I-”

“Did I get drunk?”

“No, you didn’t consume alcohol yesterday.”

“I feel like… my head is spinning…”

“Perhaps you’re still tired. Some more sleep should help. I can-”

He was interrupted by a knock at the door. If he had known who it was he would have put you to sleep before answering but that was his mistake. He made no effort to hide his unhappiness over seeing Haechan.

“What do you want?”

“Ah… well good morning to you too. Is y/n here?”

“Why do you care?”

“Is she here or not?”

“No, so you-”

“I’m here.” You stumbled out of bed, rubbing the sleep from your eyes. “What’s up?”

“Hi, good morning.”

“Good morning, Haechan.”

“Yeah, I didn’t mean to wake you but Johnny wanted to see you, he’s got the test results back.”

“Oh, good, yeah, I’ll be right over.”

“I’ll come with.” Sicheng offered.

“I don’t think you can.” Haechan countered. “Doctor patient confidentiality you know.”

“Right.”

“I’m just gonna get dressed first.”

“Cool, I’ll wait outside.”

Sicheng was quick to shut the door. Meanwhile you were already getting dressed.

“Doesn’t him wanting to talk to you mean there is something wrong? I should go with you.”

“He might just want to help me understand my results. I haven’t been to a doctor in a long time. Besides I can ask him about my weird headache. I’ll be fine so you just go do what you do.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Don’t worry about me.”

“I don’t like this.” Sicheng grabbed you, eyes glowing. “I should come with you.”

“I…”

“You’re still dizzy and need me-”

“Y/n?” Haechan’s voice interrupted. “You coming or what?”

“Yes!” You gave Sicheng a chaste kiss. “See you later.”

You made your way out of the room and he was left alone, slightly frustrated that he couldn’t convince you to take him with. He grabbed what he needed and headed out, seeing you off in the distance with Haechan. He had to remind himself not to cause trouble, things would go his way soon enough.

♥♥♥♥♥

“There you are.”

You entered the lab with Haechan, Johnny greeting you both. He had you take a seat, bringing over some papers. You expected to talk, but then he brought over a cart and attached electrodes to your head.

“Um… what are you doing?”

“I need to check on something real quick.”

“Oh, is something wrong?”

“No, not at all. Consider this just an extra test.”

“Okay.”

“You’ll be just fine.” Haechan assured. “Just relax.”

You nodded your head, they knew what they were doing of course. They didn’t say anything but they were certainly giving each other looks that were making you uneasy. Before you could ask you felt a jolt run through your head and you fell back.

“Fuck, Johnny what did you do?!”

“I didn’t know this was going to happen!”

“Y/n!”

Haechan gently grabbed your head, being careful not to move the electrodes. You hadn’t passed out but were dazed. Your vision was blurry and your senses were disoriented. You were trying to focus and then it all came rushing in. You screamed, trying to get up but both boys held you down.

“Y/n, please calm down!”

“Let me go! I have to…” You started to cry. “It’s my fault… they’re dead because of me… I’m sorry…”

“What are you talking about?”

“How about she calms down first.” Johnny said. “Y/n, take a deep breath. You’re safe, we’re not gonna hurt you.”

“I’m sorry…”

Your head was a mess. You didn’t know what was happening but one thing was clear, there wasn’t anything messing with your head anymore. The truth of what you had seen, how you had felt, all came crashing back to you. Now your mind was trying to make sense of everything. You just cried, letting it all wash over you until it all settled down.

“How… what did you do…”

“I…” Johnny was trying to explain himself. “I found nanobots in your body… they seemed to be sending a signal… monitoring your vitals, and I hijacked it.”

“You did what! He’s gonna know! You need-”

“No, it’s okay. I’m still sending out a signal, your vitals are normal to the receiving end. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

“No… no you… you freed me…”

“I what?”

“The… I guess the nanobots are how he’s been able to manipulate me without a chip…”

“Manipulate you?” Haechan wondered. “What do you mean?”

“It’s all still vague… but he’s messed with my memories, my emotions…”

“They can do that?”

“Yeah… they made me trust them… care… you guys need to leave.”

“What?”

“They’re going to attack this base. You guys need to get out of here before it’s too late.”

“We can’t just leave at the drop of a hat.” Johnny explained. “We need to go to the council, and contain-”

“You can’t expect to hold them. They’ve been gathering data on this place and everyone here.”

“Data? For what?”

“They need to know how to get in here and who’s compatible.”

“Compatible? With what? For what?”

“I don’t know… that’s the only reason I’m alive… it’s the only reason Jungwoo is…”

“Wait, is he infected too?”

“Most likely…”

“Fuck.”

“You need to stop them, now, please… they’ve killed people before, they’ll do it… it’s my fault…”

“Y/n you didn’t do anything wrong.” Johnny assured. “You’re a victim here.”

“But… Jungwoo’s group… they found me… if they hadn’t… the others wouldn’t be dead… you all wouldn’t be in danger…”

“We’re always in danger.” Haechan said. “Everyone is, until we stop the robots once and for all.”

“And they’re here, on our turf.” Johnny added. “We can round them up and then hit ‘em with an EMP.”

“No, no those don’t work on them. Jungwoo and I know that for sure.”

“What? How is that possible, they’re robots.”

“They got through security, remember. But… then what are they?”

“Brainwashed humans?”

“Then how can they be manipulating y/n? They have to be robots…”

“Either way, we need to tell the council.” Johnny said. “Now. So, y/n, you can go and-”

“No!” You grabbed Johnny’s arm. “Please don’t send me back into that fog. I can’t.”

“Y/n, I can’t keep you like this. They’re gonna find out if you stay.”

“Johnny please!” You choked back tears. “Please don’t send me back.”

“Y/n…”

“Hyung, we wouldn’t know anything if not for her. We can’t just give her back to them.”

“I don’t have a choice here. This isn’t just about her.”

“Hyung!”

“Please… please…”


End file.
